MA S TER 

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NO.  92-80497-18 


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AUTHOR: 


HENRY,  G.  KENNETH 


TITLE: 


ROMAN  ACTORS 


PLACE: 


[NORTH  CAROLINA] 


DA  TE : 


[1919?] 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 
PRESERVATION  DEPARTMENT 


Master  Negative  # 


\t 


DIDLIOGRAPHIC  MICROFORM  TARGFT 


Original  Material  as  Filmed  -  Existing  Bibliographic  Record 


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EOMAN  ACTORS 
By  G.  Kenneth  G.  Henry 


This  paper  aims  to  collect  and  examine  such  reference^  as  can  be 
found  in  Latin  literature  to  individual  actors,  with  a  view  to  pre- 
senting an  understanding  of  the  various  actors'  individuality  and 
their  services  to  the  Roman  theatre.  With  the  exception  of  a  very 
few  actors,  such  as  the  great  Roscius,  the  material  is  not  extensive. 
I  have  endeavored  to  go  to  original  sources,  relying  little  on  the 
commentators,  though  not  entirely  disregarding  their  analysis. 
Ribbeck's  Schauspieler  in  his  Romische  Tragoedia  im  Zeitalter  der 
Repuhlik  is  short  in  its  treatment  and  deals  with  only  some  eight 
actors.  The  great  work  of  Friedlander,  Darstellungen  aus  der 
Sittengeschichte  Roms,  has  been  most  valuable,  and  his  references 
to  sources  have  been  extensively  used  in  the  preparation  of  the 
paper.  Friedlander,  however,  leaves  his  references  to  actors'  scat- 
tered throughout  his  entire  work.  The  present  discussion,  chiefly 
biographical,  gathers  the  material  together  into  a  consisteit  whole. 
The  names  are  arranged  as  nearly  as  may  be  in  historical  oider. 

An  examination  of  Latin  literature  brings  to  light  some  twenty 
actors  mentioned  at  least  by  name  belonging  to  the  Republican 
period.  Those  of  great  renown  are  Livius  Andronicus,  actor  of  his 
own  compositions ;  Pellio,  probably  stage  manager  as  well  as  actor 
in  the  time  of  Plautus;  L.  Ambivius  Turpio,  L.  Atilius  Praenes- 
tinus,  Minutius  Prothymus,  of  the  period  of  Terence ;  Roscius  and 
Aesopus  of  the  Ciceronian  age.  These  were  all  actors  of  note  in 
their  day.  Other  more  insignificant  performers  are  Rupilius, 
Hilarus,  Fufius,  Catienus,  Panurgus,  Eros.  Under  the  Empire 
Demetrius,  Stratocles,  Glyco,  Apelles,  Sophron,  Publilius  Syrus 
were  the  greatest  actors  of  the  legitimate  drama.  Of  no  less  fame, 
or  ill-fame,  are  the  pantomimic  and  dramatic  dancers,  Bathyllu^s, 
Pylades,  Hylas,  Paris,  Mnester,  and  many  others  of  less  renown. 

Andronicus 

Livius  Andronicus,  first  and  chiefly,  of  course,  to  be  regarded  as 
the  founder  of  Roman  palliatae,  was  also  an  actor.  He  is  the  first 
performer  mentioned,  but  is  no  more  to  be  considered  as  belonging 

334 


XW,  Lo  u  Oxl  f^f^ 


G.  Kenneth  G.  Henry 


335 


to  the  actor's  profession  than  Aeschylus,  who  was  a  performer  of 
his  own  plays.     According  to  Livy/  Andronicus  belonged  to  a 
period  before  the  time  when  acting  by  free  citizens  was,  in  general, 
restricted  to  the  Atellanae  and  Exodia :   idem,  id  quod  omnes  turn 
erant,  suorum  carminum  actor.    Euanthius  preserves  the  tradition : 
Latinae  f alulae  primo  a  Livio  Andronico  scriptae  sunt,  adeo  cuncta 
re  etiam  turn  recenti,  ut  idem  et  actor  suarum  fahularum  fuisset.^ 
The  popularity  won  from  his  audience  by  Andronicus  is  attested 
by  the  assigning  to  him  of  a  building,  a  sort  of  theatre,  on  the 
Aventine  hill,  the  first  approach  to  a  theatre  in  Rome.    This  build- 
ing was  occupied  by  a  troup  of  actors.^    Andronicus  continued  to 
maintain  his  popularity  to  an  extreme  old  age.    Livy  tells  of  a  late 
appearance  by  him  on  the  stage.     On  one  occasion  the  audience 
repeatedly  demanded  the  repetition  of  some  favorite  lines.    Androni- 
cus's  voice  failed  and  he  introduced  a  boy  who  relieved  him  of  the 
recitative,  in  concert  with  the  flute.     Andronicus  devoted  himself 
to  only  the  gesture  and  action  of  his  part,  employing  his  voice  only 
in  the  conversational  scenes  and  less  elevated  passages.*     Livy  is 
evidently  describing  an  incident  of  the  old  age  of  the  poet.    Euan- 
thius implies  that  the  ban  was  put  on  the  actor's  profession  as  soon 
as  the  keen  edge  of  the  drama's  newness  wore  off,  re  etmm  tum 
recenti,^     But  Andronicus  acted  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century. 
His^rst  production  was  in  the  year  240.«    Cato  in  the  De  Senectute 
states  that  he  had  seen  the  old  man  Livius  when  he  himself  was  a 
yomth."     Cato's  birth  was  in  235  and  Andronicus  was  evidently 
acting  in   220.     Again  Livy    states   that   a  hymn   composed  by 
Andronicus  was  sung  in  the  year  208.«    Liv>^  does  not  say  when  the 
hymn  was  composed,  but  Festus  ^  informs  us  that  great  honors 
were  paid  Andronicus  after  the  recitation  of  a  hymn  at  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Roman  success  in  the  second  Punic  war.     At  any 
rate   acting  by  play-writers  was   continued  through   the   life   of 
G^naeus  Naevius.    The  puer,  or  slave,  introduced  by  Andronicus  to 

the  Roman  stage  may  well  point  to  the  beginning,  and  the  cause, 

,/ 

*Livy,  vn,  2. 

» Euanth.,  Com.,  iv,  3.     The  source  of  Euanthius'  information  is  doubt- 
less the  passage  in  Livy. 
*Festus,  s.  V.  scrihas.  *Livy,  vii,  2. 

»  Euanth.,  loc.  cit.  '  Cic,  Brut.,  xvii. 

■'De  Senect.,  c.  14.  'Livy,  27,  37. 

^8.  v.,  scriJxis. 


336 


Roman  Actors 


of  the  degradation  of  the  actor's  profession  at  Eome.  The  Roman 
stage,  says  Livy,  continued  the  innovation.  There  doubtless 
resulted  a  competition  of  free  and  slave  born  on  the  stage,  and  the 
Eomans  were  always  disinclined  to  compete  with  the  lower  class. 

Andronicus  as  an  actor  supported  the  characters  familiar  to  ns 
in  the  plays  of  Plautus  and  Terence,  drawing,  as  we  see  from  his 
titles,  from  the  Menander  school.  In  tragedy  his  impersonations 
were  from  the  later  Greek  tragedies  and  the  Alexandrian  revisions 
of  the  three  great  Attic  masters.^^  Coming  as  he  did  from  Taren- 
tum,  he  was  already  familiar  with  acting  at  the  Dionysiac  festivals 
which  enjoyed  such  popularity  in  southern  Italy. 


Naevius 

Gnaeus  :N'aevius,  who  brought  out  his  earliest  production?  iu  ?35, 
only  five  years  after  the  first  attempts  of  Andronicus  a-  :'-  -a^Uiza- 
tion,  was  doubtless  an  actor  of  his  own  plays.^^  Cicer.  ••'  :? 
death  as  early  as  204.    He  thus  comes  within  the  periof'  ■  d 

by  Livy  when  play-writer  and  play-actor  were  combined  n  in  i  e 
man.  Accounted  by  the  ancients  a  better  comic  than  ragic  poei, 
Naevius  was  probably  a  better  comedian  than  tragediai  OiaTo'.s 
quotation  of  his  jests  would  seem  to  point  to  such  a  tradii  -i  . 

We  can  only  imagine  how  Naevius  carried  off  his  Rom-  lus  or  '  u 
Lupus  or  his  Clastidium,  The  lack  of  humor  in  the  EL  er  ^=  , 
and  the  noble  Metelli  has  closed  the  door  to  even  a  I  'V--.  on 
Eoman  knights  and  senators  on  the  stage.  The  furore  c.tu.i  ■  t^v 
Naevius's  satire  again  contributed  to  the  lowering  of  the  a 
art  and  it  is  hardly  likely  that  Ennius,  the  poet  of  great  fa--.  Lefc, 
ventured  on  the  actor's  part. 

Pellio 

The  first  purely  Eoman,  actor  of  whom  we  have  notice  is  ici-: 
Andronicus  and  Naevius  were  actors  only  incidentally  to  their  n. 
serious  profession  of  play-writing.    Pellio  was  an  actor  by  p^      s- 
sion.     He  belongs  to  the  time  of  Plautus.     That  writer,  in  t.. 
Bacchides,  through  the  character  of  Chrysalus,  complains  that  the 

*«  Tid,  Ward  in  Ency.  Brit,  suh  Drama. 
>^Ati1.  Gel.,  17,  21. 


G.  Kenneth  G.  Henry 


337 


unfavorable  reception  accorded  the  Epidicus,  a  play  he  "  loved  as 
well  as  his  own  self,''  was  due  to  Pellio : 


etiam  Epidicum,  quam  ego  fabulam  aeque  ac  ipsum  amo, 
nullam  aeque  inuitus  specto,  si  Pellio  egit.^ 


u 


Unfortunately  egit  here,  as  elsewhere,  does  not  differentiate  between 
Pellio  as  actor  and  as  stage  manager,  dominu^  gregis.  Pellio  may 
well  have  spoiled  as  good  a  play  as  the  Epidicus  either  as  actor  of 
leading  parts  or  as  stage  director. 

Symmachus  gives  Pellio  a  place  of  renown  by  grouping  him  with 
the  greatest  exponents  of  Eoman  drama,  Ambivius,  Eoscius  and 
Aesopus :  non  idem  pronuntiandis  fahulis  P.  Pelloni  qui  Amhivio 
fuit  neque  par  Aesopi  et  Roscio.^^  From  this  we  should  suppose 
that  Pellio  was  not  some  miserable  actor  of  the  time,  as  Eiley 
assumes,^*  but  that  he  exhibited  in  the  Epidicus  a  lack  of  his  more 
usual  abilities. 

Ambivius 

But  the  greatest  actor  of  the  early  republic,  and  in  fact  one  of 
the  greatest  of  all  time,  was  L.  Ambivius  Turpio.  He  is  mentioned 
more  than  once  as  an  artist  of  the  highest  order.  Cicero  speaks  of 
him  as  a  model  of  the  best  acting:  ut  Turpione  Amhivio  magis 
delectatur  qui  in  prima  cavea  spectat,  delectatur  tamen  etiam  qui 
in  ultim'a.^^  So  also  Tacitus,^^  complaining  that  oratory  of  the 
older  order  has  become  obsolete,  says  that  it  is  no  more  in  demand 
than  if  one  should  use  the  gesture  of  an  Ambivius  or  a  Eoscius  on 
the  stage: — quam  si  quis  in  scaena  aut  Roscii  aut  Turpionis 
Amhivii  exprimere  gestus  velit. 

Ambivius  may  be  considered  from  two  points  of  view :  as  player 
and  as  an  influence  on  literature.  The  didaescalia  appended  to  the 
plays  of  Terence  indicate  that  Ambivius  was  the  chief  performer, 
if  not  the  stage  manager,  at  the  presentation  of  the  comedies  of 
Terence.  In  each  of  these  notices  we  read:  egit  L.  Ambivius 
Turpio.  Egit  doubtless  means  both  acted  and  managed  the  play 
in  hand.  With  him  rested  the  responsibility  for  the  success  of  the 
piece,  which  seems  to  have  depended  on  the  spirit  with  which  it 


"^Bacch.  215-6. 

"Trans.  Bacch.,  loc.  cit.,  n. 

^Dial.  de  Orat.,  20. 


IS 


Sym.,  X,  2. 
"  De  Senect.,  c.  20. 


338 


Roman  Actors 


G.  Kenneth  G.  Henry 


339 


was  rendered.  He  would  also  seem  to  be  the  speaker  of  the  pro- 
logues of  the  Hecyra  and  of  the  Eauton  Timorumenos.  In  fact 
Eugraphius  states  positively ""  that  Ambivius  was  the  prologuist ; 
and  Faenus  says  that  in  some  copies  the  name  of  L.  Ambivius  is 
over  the  word  prologus  in  great  letters,  as  also  in  the  Basilican  copy. 

In  the  prologue  to  the  Hecyra,  Ambivius  claims  that  he  had 
popularized  the  plays  of  the  poet  Caecilius,  when  that  writer's 
plays  were  unknown:  novas  qui  exactas  feci  ut  inveterascarent. 
The  disfavor  with  which  the  Hecyra  had  previously  been  received 
called  for  the  intervention  of  a  popular  actor,  though  usually  the 
prologue  was  delivered  by  one  of  the  lesser  actors,  adores  partium 
secundarum  aut  tertium.^^  But  Ambivius  was  rated  so  high  in 
popular  favor  that  his  appearance  in  behalf  of  the  Hecyra  went  far 
toward  guaranteeing  its  success. 

The  conclusion  is  quite  irresistible  that  Ambivius  was  manager 
and  director  as  well  as  actor.  He  appeals,  for  example,  to  the 
audience  to  remember  his  generosity  in  not  covetously  setting  a 
large  price  on  his  services,  but  that  he  considers  the  serving  of  his 
audience's  entertainment  the  highest  reward.  He  begs  that  the 
play  be  received  favorably  that  he  may  be  encouraged  to  purchase 
new  plays :  "  For  my  sake  grant  my  plea  and  attend  in  silence  that 
it  may  be  possible  for  others  to  write  and  for  me  to  learn  new  plays 
after  this,  purchase^d  at  my  own  expense  {posthac  pretio  emptas)" 
Donatus,  here,  to  be  sure,  thinks  that  pretio  meo  means  aestir 
matione  a  me  facta  quantum  aediles  darent,  i.  e.  that  the  aediles, 
only,  purchased  plays  and  that  they  consulted  Ambivius  as  to  the 
proper  price  to  be  set  upon  the  piece.  Donatus's  interpretation  of 
pretio  as  equal  to  aestimatione  is  quite  unnatural  and  unsupported 
by  the  use  of  pretium  elsewhere  in  Terence,  of  which  there  are  at 
least  twelve  instances.  The  purchase  of  a  play  by  a  manager,  too, 
is  supported  by  Juvenal,  who,  complaining  of  the  hard  financial  lot 
of  the  poet,  suggests  that  the  poet  Statins  should  sell  his  tragedy, 
the  Agave,  to  Paris,  the  actor  and  play-manager.  Ambivius,  a.- 
mere  play-actor,  would  not  be  purchasing  plays  from  the  playwrigh 
or  from  the  aediles;  as  magister  gregis  he  may  reasonably  havt 
done  so.  And  whether  pretio  is  to  be  interpreted  literally,  as  indi- 
cating the  purchase  of  plays  by  Ambivius,  or  figuratively,  according 

"  Prol.  Eecy. 

"  Prol.  Eecy.,  prol.  Haut.  Tim.  Horace,  Ep.  1,  18,  14. 


to  Donatus,  meaning  that  he  was  only  asked  to  set  a  price  for  the 
magistrates,  the  conclusion  can  only  be  that  he  was  an  experienced 
stage  manager. 

Again  the  tone  of  the  prologuist's  words  suggests  a  manager 
rather  than  a  mere  actor :  "  Allow  me  to  gain  my  request,  that  he 
who  has  entrusted  his  labors  to  my  protection  and  himself  to  your 
trust  in  him  may  not  be  beset  by  the  malicious  and  derided  on 
every  side."  Terence  entrusted  his  interests  to  Ambivius :  in  tute- 
lam  meam  studium  suum  commisit.  That  goes  beyond  the  services 
expected  of  a  play-actor,  but  fits  well  with  the  part  undertaken  by 
a  manager. 

But  Ambivius  was  more  than  this.  He  had  an  important  influ- 
ence on  the  Roman  drama  itself,  on  contemporary  literature.  If 
we  may  believe  the  matter  of  the  prologues,  both  Caecilius  and 
Terence  may  well  have  failed  to  gain  a  hearing  from  the  Roman 
stage,  had  not  Ambivius  come  to  their  rescue.  To  quote  from  the 
second  prologue  to  the  Hecyra :  "  Caecilius,  now  a  great  favorite, 
very  often  failed  at  first  and  not  a  few  of  his  plays  were  rescued  by 
me  from  popular  dislike  and  have  now  become  favorites.  And  so 
I  encouraged  the  poet  to  write  new  plays,  whereas  otherwise  he 
would  have  been  disheartened  at  the  opposition  which  he  met  with. 
And  if  this  holds  good  in  the  case  of  Caecilius,  I  ought  to  gain  your 
attention  for  the  Hecyra,  which  has  met  with  an  unfavorable  recep- 
tion. The  play  has  been  unfortunate.  On  one  occasion  the  tight 
rope  dancer,  on  another  the  gladiator  drew  away  the  audience. 
Now  there  is  no  distraction  of  the  kind  and  you  can  attend  to  the 
play  at  your  leisure.  I  appeal  to  you  further  not  to  allow  a 
monopoly  of  the  dramatic  art  by  rejecting  my  poet  and  accepting 
the  plays  of  his  opponents.  Allow  me  to  enjoy  the  privileges  that 
I  had  as  a  younger  man  when  I  saved  plays  that  had  been  hissed 

off  the  stage."  '*     ^ 

Again  in  the  prologue  to  the  Hauton  Timorumenos,  Ambivius 
is  supposedly  the  speaker.  And  why?  "I  will  first,"  he  says, 
"  account  for  my  having  been  chosen  to  speak  the  prologue  instead 
of  a  younger  actor,  and  then  I  shall  account  for  my  appearance  as 
an  actor.  Terence  has  wished  me  to  act  as  an  advocate,  orator,  not 
to  speak  a  prologue.  The  decision  he  has  placed  in  your  hands ;  he 
has  made  me  his  pleader :  and  yet  in  the  matter  of  eloquence  I  shall 

"This  paraplirase  is,  in  general,  that  of  Macleane. 


340 


Roman  Actors 


N 


G.  Kenneth  G.  Henry 


341 


be  able  to  plead  only  as  well  as  he  has  devised  my  brief."  Here  is 
Ambivius  pleading  for  the  support  of  a  Eoman  audience  in  behalf 
of  two  of  the  greatest  literary  geniuses  that  Rome  produced.  He 
may  possibly  in  his  earlier  days  have  been  a  composer  as  well  as 
exhibitor.2<^  Be  that  as  it  may,  he  had  at  least  an  influence  on  the 
literature  from  the  pen  of  his  literary  friends.  His  close  association 
with  Terence  would  bring  him  into  that  choice  literary  clique,  the 
circle  of  Scipio  and  Laelius :  and  he  was,  no  doubt  admitted  to  the 
literary  discussions  of  that  ancient  "  coffee  house  club." 

We  have  assumed  that  Ambivius  is  the  prologuist  in  the  Hecyra 
and  Hauton  Timorumenos.  The  presence  of  his  name  in  the 
didascaliae  as  chief  actor  or  dominiis  gregis  would  lead  to  that 
supposition,  independently  of  the  testimony  of  Eugraphius.  It  is 
quite  likely  that  it  was  from  this  source  that  Eugraphius  drew  his 
statement.  The  date,  however,  of  the  popularity  of  Ambivius,  as 
told  of  in  the  Cato  Maior,  only  approximately,  if  that,  agrees  with 
the  prologuisf  s  popularity  in  Terence's  plays.  The  dramatic  date 
of  the  Cato  Maior,  in  which  Cicero  bespeaks  the  success  of 
Ambivius,  is  150.  The  Hauton  Timorumenos  and  the  Hecyra  were, 
according  to  the  evidence  of  the  didascaliae  and  of  Donatus,  pre- 
sented in  163  and  160.  The  prologuist  more  than  once  speaks  of 
himself  as  an  old  man,  unable  to  meet  the  demands  of  a  noisy 
uproarious  audience:  while  Cato  speaks  of  Ambivius  as  at  the 
height  of  his  powers  and  popularity  thirteen  to  fifteen  years  later. 

Again  the  prologuist,  whoever  he  was,  was  evidently  the  con- 
necting link  between  Caecilius  and  Terence.  Now  Caecilius  died 
in  168  and  Ambivius  would  be  a  very  old  man  indeed  in  150,  rather 
than  of  the  age  indicated  in  the  Cato  Maior. 

A  legend  has  come  down  to  us  that  points  to  the  skill  of  Ambivius 
in  interpreting  the  character  that  he  impersonated.  On  one  occa- 
sion at  a  rehearsal  of  the  Phormio,  Terence  was  much  disgusted  to 
find  Ambivius  seemingly  intoxicated.  Terence  called  the  actor  to 
account,  but  was  met  with  the  reply  that  he  was  only  acting  the 
part  of  Phormio  according  to  his  interpretation  of  the  part.  The 
writer  immediately  recognized  the  correctness  of  Ambivius's  view 
of  the  character  of  Phormio ;  that  he  had  really  meant  the  parasite 
to  be  a  drunkard. 

The  words  that  Terence  puts  in  the  mouth  of  Ambivius  in  the 

'^Aslimore  so  states,  without  authority,  however. 


prologues  (if,  indeed,  Ambivius  did  not  write  the  prologues  him- 
self), indicate  the  high  degree  of  perfection  attained  by  the  Eoman 
actor.  The  demands  on  Ambivius  were  most  exacting.  In  fact 
wherever  actors  are  referred  to,  it  is  generally  in  terms  that  go  to 
show  that  they  must  have  been  required  to  possess  all  the  accom- 
plishments of  an  operatic  singer.  Quality  and  volume  of  voice, 
along  with  grace  and  accuracy  of  enunciation,  seem  to  determine 
the  actor's  relative  position.  He  had  to  be  trained  in  the  lyrical 
as  well  as  the  dialogue  parts,  though  the  strictly  lyrical  parts  were 
not  always  sung  by  the  actor  himself. 

If  the  play  did  not  please,  the  spectators  did  not  hesitate  to 
express  their  disapproval.  Cat-calls  and  hisses  were  common  even 
in  the  days  of  Plautus  and  Terence.  Under  the  empire,  the  claque, 
a  paid  body  of  applauders  introduced  during  the  republic,  shouted 
the  praises  of  their  pay-masters  and  hissed  the  utterances  of  rival 
actors.^^  Horace  compares  the  noise  and  disturbance  of  the  theatre 
to  the  roar  of  the  sea  or  the  storm  raging  through  a  mountain 
forest."  The  importance  attached  to  acting  far  outran  that 
attached  to  the  Greek  performance.  Especially  in  later  days,  the 
attention  to  dress,  movement,  enunciation,  made  the  actor  of  more 
importance  than  the  play  itself.  The  mise  en  scene  was  the  thing. 
Horace  says  the  audience  came  to  see  the  fringe  on  the  embroidered 
robe.  The  acting  of  an  Ambivius  or  of  a  Roscius  far  outdid  the 
greatest  efforts  of  the  greatest  Greek  comedian.  Says  Cicero: 
"  Everything  is  done  by  the  stage  player  unexceptionally  well : 
everything  with  the  utmost  grace :  everything  in  such  a  way  as  is 
becoming  and  moves  and  delights  all.' 


??  23 


Atilius 

The  name  of  L.  Atilius  Praenestinus  is  joined  to  that  of  Ambivius 
in  all  the  didascaliae  of  Terence's  plays  except  in  that  of  the  Hecyra 
(and  in  the  codex  A,  the  Hauton  Timorumenos).  Dziatzko^* 
in  his  discussion  of  the  didascaliae  concludes  that  the  mention  of 
the  two  names,  Ambivius  and  Atilius,  indicate  different  perform- 
ances.   The  establishment  of  the  fact  that  Ambivius  was  a  dominus 

'^Petronius,  Sat.,  c.  5;  Tac.  Ann.  1,  16;  Festus,  p.  86;  Epict.  m,  4. 
"Ep.,  n,  1,  202.  ^  De  Orat.,  1,  2^. 

^Rhein.  Mus.,  20,  572;  21,  64. 


342 


Roman  Actors 


gregis  of  recognized  ability  would  indicate  that  Atilius  was  also  a 
manager  and  editor,  i.  e.,  brought  out  plays  under  the  direction  of 
the  curule  aediles. 

Atilius  probably  belongs  to  a  later  time  than  Ambivius.  Ash- 
more,  therefore,  rejects  (or  at  least  parenthesizes)  his  name  in  all 
the  didascaliae  except  that  of  the  Adelphoe,  The  grouping  of  the 
names  of  the  two  managers,  it  is  suggested,  may  be  due  to  care- 
lessness or  accident.  There  is  a  possibility  that  this  is  the  same 
Atilius  who  wrote  palliatae,  for  the  poet's  nomen,  praenomen  and 
cognomen  are  identical  with  those  of  the  actor.  The  testimony  of 
Livy  that  it  was  in  the  earlier  days  of  the  Koman  drama  only  that 
playwrights  appeared  in  their  plays,  a  testimony  repeated  by 
Euanthius  ^^  argues  against  the  identity  of  the  actor  and  the  poet. 
Dziatzko  answers  the  question  negatively.^^  If  they  be  the  same, 
Cicero's  antagonism  to  actors  in  general  may  explain  his  criticism 
of  the  poet  as  poeta  durissimus,^'^  for  Varro  speaks  in  praise  of  the 
poet :  Atilius,  Caecilius,  facile  moverunt.^^  He  translated  the  Electra 
of  Sophocles.^^  Macleane  dismisses  the  player  Atilius  with  the 
remark  that  of  him  we  know  nothing  except  that  he  was  a  manager 
and  actor. 

MiNUCIUS.      CiNCIUS 

Minucius  Prothymus  and  Cincius  Faliscus  are  mentioned  by 
Donatus  as  the  first  actors  to  wear  masks  on  the  Eoman  stages,  the 
former  in  tragedy,  the  latter  in  comedy:  personati  primi  egisse 
dictuntur  comoediam  Cinciiis  Faliscus,  tragoediam  Minucius 
Prothymus.^^  Prothymus  was  dominus  gregis  in  a  presentation  of 
the  Adelphoe.^^  The  appearance  of  the  two  names  Atilius  and 
Prothymus  in  the  didascaliae,  leads  Dziatzko  to  argue  that  only 
Atilius  gave  the  presentation  in  160,  while  Minucius  brought  out 
the  Adelphoe  at  a  later  date.^^  This  date  for  Minucius's  presenta- 
tion of  the  Eunuchus  ^^  Eibbeck  puts  as  late  as  146.^* 


*De  Fahula,  iv,  3. 

^AdAtt.,  14,  20,  3. 

"'Cic.  Fin.  1,  5;  Suet.,  Jul,  84. 

^Didasc.  to  Adelp. 

^  Vid.  Donat.  praef.  Eunuchus,  6. 

•*  Rom.  Trag.  der  Rep.,  p.  660  f . :  Er  bracMe  in  nachterenzischer  Zeit  als 
dominus  gregis  die  Adelphi  und  den  Eunuclius  zur  Auffuhrung,  letzteren 
wohl  erst  nach  dem  Jahre  608.    Man  wird  ihn  am  wahrsclieinliclisten  der 


^Rhem  Mus.,  21,  72. 
»Ap.  ChuHs.,  G.  L.,  1,  241. 
^  De  Com.,  p.  26,  vol.  1,  Wesener. 
*^  Rhein.  Mus.,  xx,  578. 


G.  Kenneth  G.  Henry 


343 


EUPILIUS 

An  actor  of  tragedy  is  mentioned  by  Cicero  by  the  name  of 
Eupilius.  Cicero  states  that  he  always  acted  the  Antiope  (of  Accius 
or  of  Pacuvius),  while  Aesopus  often  took  the  part  of  Ajax.^^  These 
parts,  says  Cicero,  were  best  suited  to  their  individual  abilities. 
Eupilius  belonged  to  the  earlier  days  of  Cicero:  Rupilius,  quern 
memini.^^  That  he  was  an  actor  of  high  merit  is  indicated  by 
Cicero's  recommendation  to  the  orator  to  imitate  this  performer  in 
wisely  choosing  a  role  that  he  could  present  with  success.  Cicero's 
mention  of  him,  too,  in  connection  with  the  well-known  actor  of 
tragedy,  Aesopus,  points  to  Eupilius's  merit.  No  further  mention 
seems  to  be  made  of  him. 

Statilius 

A  teacher  and  trainer  of  actors  by  the  name  of  Statilius  is  also 
noticed  by  Cicero.  He  is  ranked  as  of  less  ability  and  renown  than 
the  great  Eoscius:  "If  the  slave-actor  Panurgus,"  says  Cicero, 
"  had  come  from  Statilius,  even  if  he  had  surpassed  Eoscius  himself 
in  skill,  no  one  would  have  been  able  to  see  it."  ^^ 

Eoscius 

As  Ambivius  was  the  acme  of  success  in  the  early  republic,  so  in 
the  Ciceronian  period  was  Eoscius,  one  of  the  most  famous  actors 
of  all  time.  His  full  name  was  Quintus  Eoscius  Callus.  We  have 
no  data  for  definitely  arriving  at  the  year  of  his  birth.  We  may, 
however,  fix  the  approximate  date.  The  earliest  reference  to  him 
is  in  the  year  91  b.  c.^  the  dramatic  date  of  the  7)e  Oratore;  and 
he  was  by  this  time  a  trainer  of  young  actors :  "  I  have,"  observes 
Crassus,  "  often  heard  Eoscius  say  that  he  had  never  yet  been  able 
to  find  a  pupil  of  whom  he  entirely  approved."  ^^    More  than  that, 


Periode  des  Accius  zuweisen.  .  .  .  Wenn  nun  Diomedes  (p.  489  K),  oder 
vielmehr  Sueton,  welcher  wiederum  Varro's  Schriften  benutzte,  als  denje- 
nigen,  welclier  sich  zuerst  der  Masken  dediente,  Roscius  namhaft  macht, 
so  mag  Minucius  Prothymus  derjenige  Director  gewesen  sein,  unter  wel- 
chem  Roscius,  sei  es  nach  eigenem  Wunsch  sei  es  nach  Anordnung  des 
Herrn  als  des  actor,  zuerst  maskirt  auftrat. 

^De  Off.,  1,  114.  "^Loc.  cit. 

»'  Rose.  Com.,  X.  '^  De  Orat.,  i,  28,  129. 


344 


Roman  Actors 


in  the  year  91  Roscius  was  getting  well  along  in  years:  solet  idem 
Roscius  dicere  se,  quo  plus  aetatis  accederet,  eo  tardiores  tihicinis 
modos  et  cantus  remissiores  esse  facturum.^^  Yet  Roscius  did  not 
die  till  about  thirty  years  after  this  time;  for  Cicero,  in  the  Archia^, 
remarks  on  his  recent  death :  quis  nostrum  tam  agresti  animo  et 
duro  fuit  ut  Rosci  morte  nuper  non  commoveretur?  qui  cum  esset 
senex  mortuus,  tamen  propter  excellentem  artem  ac  venustatem 
videhatur  omnino  mori  non  deluisse"  *°  The  date  for  the  Archias 
is  commonly  put  at  the  year  62.*^ 

Wilkins  *^  suggests  that  Cicero,  writing  the  De  Oratore  in  the 
year  55,  may  be  guilty  of  an  anachronism  in  representing  Roscius 
speaking  of  his  advancing  years  in  91.  The  De  Oratore  is,  however, 
quite  replete  with  references  to  the  actor,  all  pointing  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  he  had  passed  the  climax  of  his  reputation.  "  He  has, 
accordingly,  long  ago  (iam  pridem)  attained  such  distinction  that 
in  whatever  pursuit  a  man  excels,  he  is  called  a  Roscius  in  his 
profession.^'  *^  Furthermore  we  are  asked  to  believe  that  it  was 
only  the  old  men  of  the  year  91  who  could  remember  the  time  when 
Roscius  did  not  wear  masks :  quo  melius  nostri  illi  senes  qui  per- 
sonatum  ne  Roscius  quidem  magne  opere  laudehant"  **  This 
assumption  of  a  mask  Wilkins  conjectures  to  have  been  twenty  or 
twenty-five  years  previous  to  91.*^ 

The  defence  of  Roscius  by  Cicero  against  Fannius  Chaerea  in 
the  year  76  *^  represents  Roscius  as  practically  retired  from  the 
profession  of  actor,  although  still  engaged  in  training  actors.  He 
had  made  his  fortune,  and  whatever  gain  he  might  further  have 
acquired  he  declined  and  gave  the  public  the  benefit  of  his  talents 
without  remuneration.*^  The  period  elapsing  between  this  retire- 
ment and  the  year  76,  would  seem  to  be  ten  years ;  that  is,  he  with- 
drew from  the  chief  activities  of  the  actor's  profession  in  the  year 
86 :  decern  his  annis  proximis  H-S  sexagies  lionestissime  consequi 
potuit:  noluit.  Lahorem  quaestus  recepit,  quaestum  lahoris  reiecit." 
Populo  Romano  adliuc  servire  non  destituit;  sihi  iam  pridem  desti' 


*"  De  Orat.,  I,  60,  254.     The  same  remark  is  attributed  to  Roscius  also  in 
De  Leg.,  i,  4. 
*^Pro  Arch.,  S, 

■**  Von  Minckwintz,  introd.,  p.  33 ;  Sihler,  M.  T.  Cic.  of  Arpin.,  p.  176. 
"De  Orat.,  ad  loo.  *^De  Orat.,  i,  28,  130. 

**De  Orat.,  Hi,  59,  221.  «  Wilk.,  ad.  loc. 

^Sillier,  Oic.  of  Arpin.,  p.  60.  *'Cie.  pro  Rose.  Com.,  8. 


G.  Kenneth  G.  Henry 


345 


tuit."  *®  It  would  seem  that  this  ''  decern  his  annis  proximis " 
indicates  the  period  of  time  that  had  elapsed  since  Roscius  had 
withdrawn  from  the  stage,  though  the  statement  is  that  it  was  ten 
years  since  he  had  profited  by  his  abilities.  He  doubtless  continued 
to  appear  in  performances,  but  these  would  be  at  longer  intervals; 
his  chief  activities  were  henceforth  in  the  training  of  younger 
actors. 

It  would  be  fair  to  assume  that  Roscius  had  acquired  a  fortune 
ample  enough  to  satisfy  all  his  futurei  needs  not  before  he  was 
forty-five  years  of  age.  Such  an  assumption  would  make  him  55 
years  of  age  in  76  and  set  the  date  of  his  birth  a  little  earlier  than 
130  B.  c.  He  would  also  be  anticipating  the  approach  of  old  age 
in  the  De  Oratore,  91  b.  c,  when  he  was  forty  years  of  age,  an  age 
rather  young  even  for  an  Italian.  The  date  of  his  death  in  62 
would  make  him  about  seventy  when  he  died. 

The  cognomen  of  Gallus  may  indicate  that  Roscius  was,  like 
others  of  his  profession,  not  a  native  of  Rome,  but  was  born  north 
of  the  Po.  He  passed  his  boyhood,  however,  and  was  educated  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Lanuvium:  Amores  ac  deliciae  tuae,  Roscius, 
num  aut  ipse  aut  pro  eo  Lanuvium  totum  mentiehatur?  Qui  cum 
in  curiahulis  educareturque  in  Solonio,  qui  est  campus  agri  Lanu- 
vini'^^  Cicero  makes  his  brother  Quintus  say;  and  then  relates  the 
story  of  the  prophesy  that  no  man  would  attain  to  greater  renown 
than  the  young  Roscius.  According  to  this  tale,  the  child's  nurse 
found  the  boy  one  night  enveloped  in  the  folds  of  a  serpent's  coils. 
The  child's  father  consulted  the  auspices  concerning  the  meaning 
of  the  prodigy  and  was  informed  that  the  boy  would  reach  the 
greatest  distinction.  Cicero  takes  occasion  to  say  that  some  credence 
is  to  be  put  in  the  tale:  De  ipso  Roscio  potest  illud  quidem  esse 
falsum  ut  circumligatus  fuerit  angui,  sed  ut  in  cunis  fuerit  anguis 
non  est  minim,  in  Solonio  praesertim,  ubi  ad  focum  angues  nundi- 
nari  solent.^^  This  tale  a  Praxiteles  represented  in  silver  and 
Archias  in  verse.**^ 

That  Roscius  was  born  a  slave  receives  some  credence  from  the 
statement  of  Pliny  the  Elder,  who,  in  speaking  of  the  high  price 
paid  for  the  grammarian  Daphnis,  mentions  the  wealth  of  actors 
who  purchased  their  freedom  and  particularly  of  Roscius:  Pretium 


"^Pro  Rose.  Com..,  8,  23. 
*Cic.  De  Div.,  n,  66. 


*»  Cic.  De  Div.,  i,  79. 
^  Cic.  De  Div.,  i,  79. 


346 


Roman  Actors 


hominis  in  servitio  geniti  maximum  ad  hanc  diem,  quod  equidem 
compererim,  fuit  grammaticae  artis,  Daphnin  Attio  Pisaurense 
vedente  et  M.  Scauro  principe  civitatis  Ili  DCC  licente.  excessere 
hoc  in  nostro  aevo,  nee  modice,  histriones,  sed  hi  lihertatem  suam 
mercati,  quippe  cum  iam  apud  maiores  Roscius  histrio  Hi  D  annua 
meritasse  prodatur.^^ 

We  may  suppose  that  Eoscius  came  to  Rome  when  a  young  man, 
but  there  is  no  account  preserved  of  the  means  by  which  he  climbed 
to  the  height  of  popularity  that  he  enjoyed  at  the  hands  of  the 
Roman  public.  According  to  Macrobius  he  was  a  great  favorite  of 
the  dictator  Sulla:  75  est  Roscius  qui  etiam  L.  Bullae  carissimus 
fuit,  et  anulo  aureo  ah  eodem  dictatore  donatus  est.^^  This  gift  of 
a  golden  ring,  the  symbol  of  the  equestrian  rank,  has  led  to  the 
supposition  that  Roscius  was  raised  to  that  rank  by  Sulla.  The 
patronage  of  the  great  dictator  doubtless  advanced  the  cause  of 
Eoscius,  for  the  two  were  of  the  same  age;  and  probably  Roscius 
absorbed  much  of  the  learning  of  the  precocius  Sulla.  This  friend- 
ship with  men  of  influence  at  Rome  is  mentioned  by  Valerius 
Maximus:  nee  vulgi  tantum  favorem,  verum  etiam  principum 
familiaritates  amplexus  est.^*^ 

Roscius's  intimacy  with  Cicero  is  abundantly  testified  to  in  the 
writings  of  the  orator.  It  was  at  the  earnest  request  of  Roscius 
that  Cicero  undertook  his  first  public  defence.  This  was  the  case 
for  P.  Quintius,  who  had  married  the  sister  of  Roscius:  dicelam 
huic  Q.  Roscio,  cuius  soror  est  cum  P.  Quintio,  cum  a  me  peteret, 
et  summe  contenderet  ut  suum  propinquum  defenderem;  mihi 
perdifficile  esse  contra  tales  oratores  non  modo  tantam  causam 
perorare,  sed  omnino  verhum  facere  conari.  Cum  cupidius  instaret, 
homini  pro  amicitia  familarius  dixi.^^ 

The  most  illuminating  information  on  Roscius  is  to  be  found  in 
Cicero's  speech,  or  rather  the  re-edited  speech,  in  defence  of  the 
actor  himself  against  C.  Fannius  Chaerea.  This  case  may  be 
succinctly  stated.  A  slave,  Panurgus  by  name,  had  been  sent  to 
Roscius  by  the  prosecutor  in  the  case,  Fannius  Chaerea,  for  the 
purpose  of  having  him  trained  as  an  actor.  The  understanding 
was  that  the  profit  anticipated  from  the  art  of  the  slave  was  to  be 
equally   divided  between  the   master,   Chaerea,   and  the   teacher, 


*»N.  H.,  vn,  39. 
"vin,  7. 


^Sat.,  m,  XIV;   13. 
"^Pro  P.  Quvntio,  24,  77. 


G.  Kenneth  G,  Henry 


347 


Roscius.  But  a  certain  Flavins  had  killed  Panurgus.  Flavins  was 
deceased  at  the  time  of  the  trial.  In  settling  his  civil  obligation 
(there  was  no  other)  the  slayer  had  satisfied  the  claim  of  Roscius 
with  a  farm  or  piece  of  land,  valued  at  100,000  sesterces.  The 
actor  is  now  sued  to  make  settlement  with  his  partner,  to  cede  to 
him  some  share  of  the  land  which  now  has  risen  considerably  in 
value.  Cicero's  contention  is  that  Roscius  fifteen  years  before 
settled  for  himself  alone  with  the  slayer  of  the  actor-slave,  and  is 
not  legally  bound  to  share  his  indemnity  with  the  original  owner 
of  the  slave.  It  is  a  delicate  point  of  law  and  equity.  At  the  same 
time  it  is  quite  palpable  that  Roscius  had  contributed  vastly  more 
to  the  ultimate  professional  value  of  the  slain  Panurgus  than  was 
the  market  value  of  the  bondsman  before  the  brilliant  actor  took 
him  in  hand.  Moreover,  Fannius  had  also  previously  sued  for  his 
share  and  had  been  awarded  a  like  100,000  sesterces.  This  fact 
Fannius  had  concealed  when  he  brought  the  suit  against  Roscius.**^ 
This  defense  of  Roscius  furnishes  no  small  amount  of  material 
from  which  to  form  an  estimate  of  him  as  a  man,  an  actor,  and  a 
teacher  of  his  art.  He  was  of  the  most  upright  character,  pure, 
modest,  humane,  generous.  As  Macrobius  puts  it:  ceterum  his- 
triones  non  inter  turpes  hahitos  Cicero  testimonio  estP  The  testi- 
mony is,  to  be  sure,  that  of  an  advocate  pleading  for  his  client,  and 
the  case  may  be  illustrative  of  the  adroitness  and  nimbleness  of 
intellect  of  the  pleader,  rather  than  an  unbiased  picture  of  the 
client.  The  sketch  of  Chaerea,  of  course,  draws  a  character  the 
very  antithesis  of  Roscius,  illustrative  of  Cicero's  fondness  for 
making  his  audience  laugh  at  the  discomfiture  of  his  opponents 
at  the  bar :  "  Do  not  the  very  pate  and  eyebrows  of  Chaerea  closely 
shaven  seem  to  be  redolent  of  meanness  and  proclaim  his  cunning? 
Does  he  not  from  the  very  nails  of  his  toes  to  the  crown  of  his 
head,  if  the  speechless  physical  person  affords  an  inference  to  men, 
seem  to  consist  wholly  of  cheating,  of  tricks,  of  lies;  who  has  his 
head  and  eyebrows  always  shaven  for  this  reason,  that  he  might 
not  be  said  to  own  as  much  as  a  hair  of  a  good  man  ?"  ^^  We  must 
only  trust  that  the  portrait  of  Roscius  here  drawn  does  not  resort 
to  a  lawyer's  unscrupulous  device.  "  Let  us  consider,"  says  Cicero, 
"  who  it  is  who  has  defrauded  his  partner  " : 


"Sillier,  Cic.  of  Arpinum,  p.  61. 
«  Sillier,  id.,  p.  61. 


57 


Sat.,  in,  XIV,  11. 


348 


Roman  Ac*ors 


dabit  enim  nobis  iam  tacite  vita  acta  in  alterutram  partem  firmum  et 
grave  testimonium.  Q.  Roscius?  Quid  ais?  Nonne,  ut  ignis  in  aequam 
coniectus  continuo  restinguitur  et  refrigerentur,  sic  referens  falsum  cri- 
men in  purissimam  et  castissimam  vitam  collatam  statim  concidit  et  ex- 
tinguitur?  Roscius  socium  fraudavit?  Potest  hoc  homini  huic  haerere 
peccatum?  qui  medius  fidius  (audacter  dico),  plus  fidei  quam  artis,  plus 
veritatis  quam  disciplinae,  possidet  in  se;  quern  populus  Romanus  melio- 
rem  virum  quam  bistrionem  esse  arbitratur ;  qui  ita  dignissimus  est  scaena 
propter  artificium,  ut  dignissimus  sit  curia  propter  abstinentiam.  Sed 
quid  ego  ineptus  de  Roscio  apud  Pisonem  (the  presiding  judge)  dico? 
ignotum  liominem  scilicet  pluribus  verbis  commendo?  Estne  quisquam 
omnium  mortalium  de  quo  melius  existimes  tu?  estne  quisquam  qui  tibi 
purior,  prudentior,  humanior,  oflScinosior,  liberaliorque  \ideatur? 


69 


Eoscius's  perfection  in  the  actor's  art  seems  to  have  been  espe- 
cially remarkable  in  his  grace  and  attractive  bearing.  Here  is  a 
point  of  contrast  with  the  actor's  art  in  Ambivius  where  the 
emphasis  is  on  volume  and  quality  of  voice.  In  the  De  Oratore 
especially  is  polish  and  decorum  ascribed  to  Eoscius.  "  The  gesture 
and  grace  of  a  Eoscius  "  says  Crassus.®°  "  Everything  with  the 
utmost  grace."  ^^  "  Eoscius  says  the  most  essential  thing  is  to  be 
becoming."  ^^  "  Who  can  make  the  least  gesture  without  Eoscius 
seeing  his  imperfection  ?  "  *^  "  No  gesture  except  what  he  has 
practised  at  home."  ®* 

"Etenim,  cum  artifex  eiusmodi  sit,  ut  solus  dignus  videatur  esse  qui 
in  scaena  spectetur."  "* 

"Itaque  ut  ad  banc  similitudinem  buius  bistrionis  oratoriam  laudem 
derigamus,  videtisne  quam  nihil  ab  eo  nisi  perfecte,  nihil  nisi  cum  sum- 
ma  venustate  fiat,  nisi  ita  ut  deceat  et  uti  omnis  moveat  atque  delectet? 
Itaque  hoc  iam  diu  est  consecutus  ut  in  quoquisque  artificio  excelleret  is 
in  suo  genere  Roscius  diceretur."" 

"  Sed  etiam  illi  Roscio,  quern  audio  dicere  caput  esse  artis  decere,  quod 
tamen  unum  id  esse,  quod  tradi  arte  non  possit.'^ 

"  Quis  neget  opus  esse  oratori  in  hoc  oratorio  motu  statuque  Rosoi 
gestum  et  venustatem  ?  *® 

"  Voluisti  enim  in  suo  genere  unum  quemque  nostrum  quasi  quendam 
Roscium."«» 


^  De  Orat.,  i,  59. 
"^De  Orat.,  29. 


'^Pro  Rose,  6,  17-18. 

«^  De  Orat.y  i,  28. 

«*  De  Orat.,  ii,  57. 

^Pro  Quinto,  25. 

<"  De  Orat.,  i,  132.     Cf.  Quintil.,  Inst.,  XI,  3,  177 

«*/)e  Orat.,  I,  251. 

•»Z)e  Orat.,  i,  258. 


"*Val.  Max.,  vm,  7. 
«"!)?  Orat.,  I,  130. 


G.  Kenneth  0.  Henry 


349 


"  Quamquam  soleo  saepe  mirari  eorum  impudentiam  qui  agunt  in 
scaena  gestum  spectante  Roscio;  quis  enim  sese  comovere  potest, 
cuius  ille  vitia  non  videat  ?  '*  says  Caesar  in  the  Be  Oratore^^  and 
wittily  adds  that  he  is  minded  to  quote  Catulus,  who  in  speaking 
of  the  oratory  of  Crassus  said  that  in  comparison  with  his  oratory, 
"  other  orators  ought  to  be  fed  on  hay." 

Valerius  Maximus,  as  well  as  Cicero,  lays  stress  on  the  diKgence 
and  painstaking  care  exercised  by  Eoscius  in  perfecting  his  art: 

Ne  Roscius  quidem  subtrahatur,  scenicae  industriae  notissimum  exem- 
plum,  qui  nullum  umquam  spectante  populo  gestum  nisi  quem  domi  medi- 
tatus  fuerat  promere  ausus  est.  Quapropter  non  ludicram  artem  com- 
mendavit  nee  vulgi  tantum  favorem  verum  etiam  principum  familiaritates 
amplexus.  Haec  sunt  attenti  et  anxii  et  numquam  cessantis  studii  praemia, 
propter  quae  vivorum  tantorum  laudibus  non  impudenter  se  persona  his- 
trionibus  inseruit.''* 

Of  the  characters  represented  on  the  stage  by  Eoscius  we  know 
of  only  some  four  or  five :  that  of  the  leno  Ballio/^  the  young  man 
Antipho/^  the  part  of  a  young  man  in  the  Bemiurgus  of  Tur- 
pilius/*  characters  so  familiar  in  the  plays  of  Plautus  and  Terence. 
He  evidently  also  performed  in  a  play,  or  plays,  by  Atta,  the 
writer  of  togatae:  Horace  professes  to  hesitate  to  criticize  that 
playwright  for  fear  of  calling  down  on  himself  the  displeasure  of 
the  older  men  (possibly  the  senators),  who  had  seen  the  '  doctus 
Roscius '  and  the  '  gravis  Aesopus  *  act  the  plays  of  Atta : 

Recte  necne  orocum  floresque  perambulet  Attae 
iFalbula  si  dubitem,  clament  periisse  pudorem 
iCuncti  paene  patres,  ea  cum  reprehendere  coner 
Quae  gravis  Aesopus,  quae  doctus  Roscius  egit.'"' 

He  appears  to  have  played  also  the  part  of  Agamemnon  in  the 
Telephus  of  Ennius,''^  for  while  his  chief  roles  were  from  comedy 
he  acted  also  in  tragedy."  Diomedes  indicates  that  his  chief  role 
was  in  the  personation  of  the  parasite. ^^  Quintilian  speaks  of  him 
as  only  a  comedian:  plus  autem  affectus  hahent  lentiora;  ideoque 
Roscius  citatior,  Aesopus  gravior  fuit,  quod  ille  comoedi^  hie 
tragoedias  egit."^^ 


™ii,  233. 
^Pro  Rose,  7. 


'*Cic.  Ep.  ad  L.  Papirius  Paetus. 
'"Inc.  fah.,  XVII,  p.  108.    Ribb. 

78 


P.  489,  11  K. 


"Val.  Max.,  viii,  7. 
"  De  Orat.,  n,  242. 
"Hor.  Epp.,  II,  1,  79-82. 
"Oic.  Or.,  31,  109. 
''^Inst.,  XI,  3,  111. 


350 


Roman  Actors 


Panurgus.    Eros 

In  his  later  years  Eoscius  was  especially  successful  as  a  trainer 
of  actors.     Cicero  mentions  two  who  were  thus  made  proficient 
enough  to  gain  popularity  in  the  Roman  theater,  Panurgus  and 
Eros.    "  How  much  did  Panurgus  owe  to  Roscius  ?    His  education. 
His  person  was  of  no  value;  his  skill  was  valuable.    As  far  as  he 
belonged  to  Fannius,  he  was  not  worth  fifty  thousand  sesterces; 
as  far  as  he  belonged  to  Roscius,  he  was  worth  more  than  a  hundred 
thousand.     For  no  one  looked  at  him  because  of  his  person;  but 
people  estimated  him  by  his  skill  as  an  actor.     For  those  limbs 
could  not  earn  by  themselves  more  than  twelve  sesterces;  owing 
to  the  education  given  him  by  Roscius,  he  let  himself  out  for  not 
less  than  a  hundred  thousand.  .  .  .  Why  was  such  zeal  for  him? 
Such  partiality  to  him?    Because  he  was  the  pupil  of  Roscius.  They 
who  loved  the  one  favored  the  other;  they  who  admired  the  one 
approved  the  other;  in  short,  all  who  heard  the  name  of  the  one 
thought  the  other  well  trained  and  accomplished.  .  .  .  Very  few 
observed  what  he  knew,  every  one  asked  where  he  had  been  taught ; 
they  thought  that  nothing  bad  or  poor  could  be  produced  by  him. 
If  he  had  come  from  Statilius,  even  if  he  had  surpassed  Roscius 
himself  in  skill,  no  one  would  have  been  able  to  see  it.  .  .  . 
Because  he  came  from  Roscius  he  seemed  to  know  more  than  he 
really  did  know. 

"  And  this  lately  did  happen  in  the  case  of  Eros  the  comedian, 
for  he,  after  he  was  driven  from  the  stage,  not  merely  by  hisses 
but  even  by  reproaches,  took  refuge,  as  at  an  altar,  in  the  house 
and  instruction  and  patronage  of  Roscius.  Therefore,  he  who  had 
been  not  even  one  of  the  lowest  class  of  actors,  came  to  be  reckoned 
among  the  very  first  comedians.  Who  was  it  that  raised  him? 
This  man's  recommendation  alone ;  who  not  only  took  this  Panurgus 
home  that  he  might  have  the  name  of  a  pupil  of  Roscius,  but  who 
also  instructed  him  with  the  greatest  paijis  and  energy  and 
patient.  For  the  more  skillful  and  ingenious  anyone  is,  the  more 
vehement  and  laborious  is  he  in  teaching  his  art ;  for  that  which 
he  himself  caught  quickly,  he  is  tortured  by  seeing  slowly  compre- 
hended by  another."  ^° 

^  Pro  Rose,  transl.  C.  D.  Young. 


G.  Kenneth  G.  Henry 


351 


The  success  attained  by  these  pupils  of  Roscius  proves  the  high 
degree  of  perfection  in  Roscius's  art,  though  his  pupils  could  hardly 
reproduce  his  mellow  voice,  his  ease  of  manner,  the  beauty  of  his 
person,  his  accuracy  of  expression  and  accent,  which  were  the 
delight  of  the  Roman  audience. 

It  is  said  that  Roscius  gained  much  of  his  grace  of  gesture  by 
frequenting  the  forum  and  adapting  to  the  stage  the  arts  of  forensic 
discourse :  Valerius  Maximus  states  that  Roscius  and  Aesopus  were 
in  the  habit  of  attending  the  oratorical  exhibitions  especially  of 
Hortensius,  of  whom  these  actors  seem  to  have  been  friends: 
Q,  autem  Hortensius  plurimum  in  corporis  decore  motu  repositum 
credens  paene  plus  studii  in  elaborando  quam  in  ipsa  eloquentia 
adfectanda  impendit.  .  .  .  constat  Aesopum  Rosciumque  ludicrae 
artis  peritissimos  illo  causas  agents  in  corona  frequenter  adstitisse, 
ut  foro  peritos  gestus  in  scaenam  referrent."  ®^  Macrobius  relates 
how  Cicero  was  accustomed  to  discuss  with  Roscius  the  compara- 
tive merits  of  eloquence  and  the  art  of  the  stage :  certe  constat  satis 
contendere  eum  (Ciceronem)  ipso  histrione  solitum,  utrum  ille 
saepius  eandem  sententiam  gestihus  efficeret  an  ipse  per  eloquentiae 
copiam  sermone  diuerso  pronuntiaret/'  ®^  If  we  are  to  believe 
Macrobius,  Roscius  made  some  ventures  also  in  literature :  ''  quae 
res  ad  lianc  artis  suae  ftduciam  Roscium  ohstraxit,  ut  lihrum  con- 
scriberet,  quo  eloquentiam  cum  histrionia  comparet.^^ 

According  to  Plutarch,  Roscius  was  a  teacher  of  Cicero,  though 
Middleton,  arguing  from  De  Orat.  i,  59,  iii,  56,  59,  Tusc.  Disp.  iv, 
25,  thinks  that  Cicero  would  have  disdained  such  instruction,  how- 
ever much  he  esteemed  Roscius  personally.^* 

The  generosity  in  financial  reward  accorded  to  Roscius  by  the 
Roman  people  is  testified  to  by  Cicero :  "  Was  Roscius  in  need  of 
money?  No,  he  was  even  a  rich  man.  Was  he  in  debt?  On  the 
contrary  he  was  living  within  his  income.  Was  he  avaricious? 
Far  from  it;  even  before  he  was  a  rich  man  he  was  always  most 
liberal  and  munificent.  ...  He  who  once  refused  a  gain  of  300,000 
sesterces — for  he  certainly  both  could  and  would  have  earned 
300,000  sesterces  if  Dionysia  can  earn  200,000 — did  he  seek  to 
acquire  50,000  by  the  greatest  dishonesty?  ...  In  these  last  ten 


81 


in,  X,  2. 


83 


III,  XIV,  12. 


^  hoc.  cit. 

8*  Yid.  Langhorne's  Plutarch,  Vol.  5,  p.  298  n. 


352 


Roman  Actors 


years  he  might  have  earned  6,000,000  sesterces  most  honorably."  ^'^ 
Macrobius  states  that  he  personally,  in  addition  to  the  pay  of  his 
company,  received  a  thousand  denarii  per  day :  Tanta  autem  fuit 
gratia  et  gloria  ut  mercedem  diurnam  de  puUico  mille  denarios 
sine  gregalihus  solus  acceperit,^^  According  to  Pliny  his  yearly 
income  was  about  $20,000.^'^ 

The  notice  of  Cicero  to  the  effect  that  Eoscius  was  afflicted  with 
a  cross  of  the  eyes,  perversissimis  oculis,^^  has  led  Diomedes  ®^  to 
claim  that  it  was  Roscius  who  first  introduced  masks  on  the  Roman 
stage :  antea  gelearihus,  non  personis,  utehantur,  ut  qualitas  coloris 
indicium  faceret  aetatis,  cum  essent  aut  alhi  aut  nigri  aut  rufi; 
personis  vero  uti  primus  coepit  Roscius  Gallus,  praecipuus  histrio, 
quod  oculis  perversis  erat,  nee  satis  decorus  sine  personis  nisi  para- 
situs  pronuntialat.^''  This  is  quite  in  contradiction  to  other  evidence 
on  Roscius's  appearance.  Cicero  says :  "  All  depends  on  the  face 
and  all  the  power  of  the  face  is  centered  in  the  eyes.  Of  this  our 
old  men  are  the  best  judges  for  they  were  not  lavish  of  their  praise 
of  even  Roscius  in  a  mask."  Roscius,  in  fact,  was  renowned  for 
his  beauty,  especially  when  a  boy;  an  epigram  on  his  charm  of 
person  written  by  Lutatius  Catulus  is  quoted  by  Aulus  Gellius  and 
also  by  Cicero : 

Constitueram,  exorientem  Auroram  forte  salutans 
Cum  subito  e  larva  Roscius  exoritur. 
Pace  mihi  liceat  dicere  vestra 
Mortalis  visust  pulchrior  esse  deo." 

The  rising  dawn,  the  goddess  Morn, 
I  had  risen  to  adore, 
When  on  the  left  Great  Roscius  rose; 
Can  rival  him  no  goddess  pose; 
I  hope  I  speak  not  hlasphemy. 


Aesopus 

The  foremost  actor  of  tragedy  that  Rome  produced  was  Aesopus. 
Cicero's  appellation,  summus  artifex,  is  the  highest  possible  praise.®^ 
His  surname  of  Claudius  is  taken  to  indicate  that  he  was  a  freed- 


^Pro  Rosc.y  8. 

^  N.  H.,  vn,  39. 

8»  Qr.  Lat.,  i,  489. 

^  Aul.  Gel.,  XIX,  9,  14. 


^m,  XIV,  13. 

^  De  Nat.  Deorum,  i,  28,  -fin. 

•*  Yid.  Ribb.  Rom.  Tmg.,  i,  p.  671. 

'^Pro  Sest.,  56,  120. 


G.  Kenneth  G,  Henry 


353 


man  of  the  Claudian  family.  Ribbeck  adds  that  he  was  a  Greek 
by  original  birth.®^  He  was  an  older  man  than  Cicero,  but  younger 
than  Roscius.  Cicero  writing  in  55  b.  c./*  shortly  after  the  occa- 
sion of  the  dedication  of  Pompey's  theater,  speaks  of  Aesopus  as 
an  old  man.»^  Writing  to  M.  Marius  he  says :  "  The  games  were 
most  elaborate,  but  not  such  as  you  would  have  stomached;  for  in 
the  first  place,  out  of  respect  for  Pompey  those  came  back  to  the 
stage  which  they  had  left  out  of  respect  for  themselves.  But  your 
delight,  our  friend  Aesopus,  was  in  such  a  state  that  he  was  per- 
mitted by  all  men  to  leave  off.  When  he  had  begun  to  take  the 
oath,  his  voice  failed  in  that  very  passage  'si  sciens  fallo'/"^^ 
Aesopus  had  evidently  retired  from  the  stage  before  this  occasion 
of  the  dedication  of  Pompey's  theater;  and  on  this  his  return  he 
was  not  able  to  perform  his  part.  This  evidently  was  his  last 
appearance,  and'  we  may  put  his  death  at  about  54  b.  c.  Roscius 
had  died  at  an  advanced  age  eight  years  before,  while  Cicero  was 
only  52  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  the  incident  described.  "  But,'^ 
adds  Cicero,  "  if  I  had  the  people  as  easily  as  Aesopus  had,  I  should 
gladly  retire  from  my  profession  and  live  with  you  and  those  like 


^?  97 


you 

His  chief  field  was  tragedy:  maxime  tamen  insignis  est  in  hac 
memorial  Clodii  Aesopi,  tragici  histrionis.^^  Quintilian  remarks 
on  tragedy  being  his  special  field:  Roscius  citatior,  Aesopus  gravior 
fuit,  quod  ille  comoedias,  hie  tragoedias  egit.^^  It  seems,  however, 
that  Aesopus  also  ventured  into  comedy;  Cicero  remarks  that  the 
great  actors  of  his  day  did  not  confine  themselves  to  one  depart- 
ment :  et  comoedum  in  tragoediis  et  tragoedum  in  comoediis  admo- 
dum  placere  vidimus.^^^  This  must  refer  primarily  to  Roscius  and 
Aesopus.  Horace  seems  to  imply  that  Aesopus  acted  in  the 
comedies  of  Atta :  "  If  I  should  criticize  a  play  of  Atta's  which  the 
^  grave  '  Aesopus  and  the  '  learned '  Roscius  used  to  act.^^  ^^^  How- 
ever, the  adjective  gravis  would  hardly  bear  that  out,  and  doubtless 
the  mention  of  Atta's  plays  is  intended  to  apply  to  drama  in 
general.^^^ 


(0 


Rom.  Trag.y  i,  p.  674.  "  Ad  Fam.,  7,  1. 
""  Vid.  Tyrrell,  Cic.  Letters,  cxxvn. 

"•Cic.  loc.  cit.  ^  Log.  cit. 

"Pliny,  N.  H.,  X,  141;  rx,  122.  "xi,  111. 

^'^Or.,  31,  109.  ^''^Epp.,  II,  1,  82. 
*"  Vid.  Wickham,  ad  loc.  cit. 


352 


Roman  Actors 


G.  Kenneth  G.  Henry 


353 


years  he  might  have  earned  6,000,000  sesterces  most  honorably/' '' 
Macrobius  states  that  he  personally,  in  addition  to  the  pay  of  his 
company,  received  a  thousand  denarii  per  day :  Tanta  autem  fuit 
gratia  et  gloria  ut  mercedem  diurnam  de  'publico  mille  denarios 
sine  gregalihus  solus  acceperit.^^  According  to  PHny  his  yearly 
income  was  about  $20,000.^^ 

The  notice  of  Cicero  to  the  effect  that  Roscius  was  afflicted  with 
a  cross  of  the  eyes,  perversissimis  oculis,^^  has  led  Diomedes  ^^  to 
claim  that  it  was  Eoscius  who  first  introduced  masks  on  the  Roman 
stage:  antea  gelearihus,  non  personis,  utelantur,  ut  qualitas  coloris 
indicium  faceret  aetatis,  cum  essent  aut  alhi  aut  nigri  aut  rufi; 
personis  vero  uti  primus  coepit  Roscius  Gallus,  praecipuus  histrio, 
quod  oculis  perversis  erat,  nee  satis  decorus  sine  personis  nisi  para- 
situs  pronuntiabat,^''  This  is  quite  in  contradiction  to  other  evidence 
on  Roscius's  appearance.  Cicero  says :  "  All  depends  on  the  face 
and  all  the  power  of  the  face  is  centered  in  the  eyes.  Of  this  our 
old  men  are  the  best  judges  for  they  were  not  lavish  of  their  praise 
of  even  Roscius  in  a  mask."  Roscius,  in  fact,  was  renowned  for 
his  beauty,  especially  when  a  boy;  an  epigram  on  his  charm  of 
person  written  by  Lutatius  Catulus  is  quoted  by  Aulus  Gellius  and 
also  by  Cicero : 

€oiistitiierain,  exorientem  Auroram  forte  salutans 
Cum  subito  e  larva  Roscius  exoritur. 
Pace  mihi  liceat  dicere  vestra 
Mortalis  visust  pulchrior  esse  deo." 

The  rising  dawn,  the  goddess  Morn, 

I  had  risen  to  adore, 

When  on  the  left  Great  Roscius  rose; 

Can  rival  him  no  goddess  pose; 

I  hope  I  speak  not  hlasphemy. 

Aesopus 

The  foremost  actor  of  tragedy  that  Rome  produced  was  Aesopus. 
Cicero's  appellation,  summus  artifex,  is  the  highest  possible  praise.®^ 
His  surname  of  Claudius  is  taken  to  indicate  that  he  was  a  freed- 


^Pro  Rose,  8. 

"  1^.  H.,  vn,  39. 

89  Gr.  Lat.,  i,  489. 

»  Aul.  Gel.,  XIX,  9,  14. 


^'ni,  XIV,  13. 

*  De  Nat,  Deorum,  i,  28,  fin. 

^  Vid.  Ribb.  Rom.  Trag.,  i,  p.  671. 

''Pro  Sest,  56,  120. 


man  of  the  Claudian  family.  Ribbeck  adds  that  he  was  a  Greek 
by  original  birth.^^  He  was  an  older  man  than  Cicero,  but  younger 
than  Roscius.  Cicero  writing  in  55  B.  c./*  shortly  after  the  occa- 
sion of  the  dedication  of  Pompey's  theater,  speaks  of  Aesopus  as 
an  old  man.»^  Writing  to  M.  Marius  he  says :  "  The  games  were 
most  elaborate,  but  not  such  as  you  would  have  stomached;  for  in 
the  first  place,  out  of  respect  for  Pompey  those  came  back  to  the 
stage  which  they  had  left  out  of  respect  for  themselves.  But  your 
delight,  our  friend  Aesopus,  was  in  such  a  state  that  he  was  per- 
mitted by  all  men  to  leave  off.  When  he  had  begun  to  take  the 
oath,  his  voice  failed  in  that  very  passage  'si  sciens  fallo'/'^^ 
Aesopus  had  evidently  retired  from  the  stage  before  this  occasion 
of  the  dedication  of  Pompey's  theater;  and  on  this  his  return  he 
was  not  able  to  perform  his  part.  This  evidently  was  his  last 
appearance,  and  we  may  put  his  death  at  about  54  b.  c.  Roscius 
had  died  at  an  advanced  age  eight  years  before,  while  Cicero  was 
only  52  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  the  incident  described.  "  But,'' 
adds  Cicero,  "  if  I  had  the  people  as  easily  as  Aesopus  had,  I  should 
gladly  retire  from  my  profession  and  live  with  you  and  those  like 


»  97 


you 

His  chief  field  was  tragedy:  maxime  tamen  insignis  est  in  hac 
memoria  Clodii  Aesopi,  tragici  histrionis.^^     Quintilian  remarks 
P  on  tragedy  being  his  special  field:  Roscius  citatior,  Aesopus  gravior 

fuit,  quod  ille  comoedias,  hie  tragoedias  egit.^^  It  seems,  however, 
that  Aesopus  also  ventured  into  comedy;  Cicero  remarks  that  the 
great  actors  of  his  day  did  not  confine  themselves  to  one  depart- 
ment :  et  comoedum  in  tragoediis  et  tragoedum  in  comoediis  admo- 
dum  placere  vidimus}^^  This  must  refer  primarily  to  Roscius  and 
Aesopus.  Horace  seems  to  imply  that  Aesopus  acted  in  the 
comedies  of  Atta :  "  If  I  should  criticize  a  play  of  Atta's  which  the 
^  grave  '  Aesopus  and  the  '  learned '  Roscius  used  to  act."  ^^^  How- 
ever, the  adjective  gravis  would  hardly  bear  that  out,  and  doubtless 
the  mention  of  Atta's  plays  is  intended  to  apply  to  drama  in 
general.^°^ 


"^Rom.  Trag.,  i,  p.  674. 

"^Vid.  Tyrrell,  Cic.  Letters.  CXXVU. 

""Cic.  loc.  cit. 

"Pliny,  N.  H.,  X,  141;  ix,  122. 

^"^Or.,  31,  109. 

^°*Vid.  Wickham,  ad  loc.  cit. 


^  Ad  Fam.,  7,  1. 

^  Loc.  dt. 
"xi,  111. 
^''Epp.,  II,  1,  82. 


354 


Roman  Actors 


The  vigor  with  which  Aesopus  acted  may  be  gathered  from  an 
incident  related  by  Plutarch,  who  teUs  that  the  tragedian  while 
acting  the  part  of  Atreus,  just  while  planning  vengeance,  struck  a 
slave  who  approached  so  violent  a  blow  with  his  sword,  that  the 
slave  fell  dead.^°^  Cicero,  too,  who  notes  more  than  once  how 
actors  took  their  parts  seriously,  says  that  he  had  seen  Aesopus 
on  one  occasion  gesticulating  so  excitedly  and  looking  so  wild,  that 
he  seemed  to  have  lost  all  control  of  himself.^'*  Cicero,  rather 
oddly,  here  makes  Quintus  compare  this  delivery  of  the  actor  with 

his  own. 

Yet  the  later  tradition  of  Aesopus'  acting  is  rather  that  he  was 
serious  and  self-contained :  gravis  is  the  verdict  of  the  patres  in 
Horace,  as  it  is  also  of  Quintilian.  And  Cicero,  after  admiring 
the  ability  of  Eoscius  to  maintain  a  reserve  force,  says :  "  And  that 
other  actor,  how  does  he  utter  his  lines  ?    How  gently,  how  sedately, 

how  calmly.''  ^'' 

Aesopus  possessed  a  strong  but  well  modulated  voice:  vox  exus 
ilia  praeclara}''  "If  there  is  the  least  harshness  in  his  voice 
Aesopus  is  hissed ;  for  at  those  from  whom  nothing  is  expected  but 
to  please  the  ear,  offense  is  taken  whenever  the  least  diminution 
of  that  pleasure  occurs."  ^°^ 

Like  Garrick,  Aesopus  seems  to  have  been  capable  of  assuming  a 
great  variety  of  moods  and  parts :  "  With  what  groaning  and  weep- 
ing did  he  elicit  tears  from  even  his  enemies  and  those  who  were 
jealous  of  him."  ^^'  He  acted  the  part  of  Eurypylus  probably  in 
Ennius'  Hedoris  Lutra;  ^°'  in  the  Atreus  of  Accius;  ^^°  in  the  role 
of  Teucer  in  Accius'  Eurysaces;  ^^^  in  the  IpUgenia  of  Ennius,  the 
part  of  Agamemnon  or  of  Menelaus.^^^  Cicero  states  that  he  did 
not  often  act  the  part  of  Ajax  (of  Ennius  or  Andronicus)  .^'^ 

Aesopus  died  a  very  wealthy  man.  The  son,  Claudius  Aesopus, 
heir  to  his  wealth,  is  proverbially  an  extravagant  and  luxurious 
liver.    He  squandered  in  luxurious  living  the  fortune  of  20,000,000 


^^^  Cic.  5. 

^^De  Orat.,  m,  26. 

*«^Cic.  De  Orct.,  i,  61. 

^•^Cic.  Tusc.  Disp.,  2,  39. 

^Cic.  Pro  Seat.,  55,  117  f. 

^Inc.  fah.,  xxvin;  Ribb.,  p.  675,  n.  165. 

^De  Off.y  1,  31. 


^°*Z)e  Div.,  1,  37. 
^"^Pro  Sest.,  58,  123. 


*«Cic.  Pro  8 est.,  57,  121. 
^  Plut.  Oic.,  6. 


. 


i 


G.  Kenneth  G.  Henry 


355 


sesterces  left  by  his  father.^^*  If  Pliny  be  correct  in  his  statement, 
the  actor  was  no  less  extravagant  than  his  spendthrift  heir.  The 
tragedian  on  one  occasion  serves  a  dish  of  singing  and  talking 
birds,  cantu  aliquo  aut  humano  sermons  vocales,  each  of  which  cost 
6000  sesterces,  and  the  whole  dish  100,000.  Pliny  then  remarks 
that  he  was  worthy  of  the  son  who  melted  the  pearl  and  drank  it."« 
This  bit  of  folly  Valerius  Maximus  assigns  to  the  son.^^« 

Spinther.     Pamphilus 

As  actors  in  partes  secundas  et  tertias,^'-'^  two  actors,  Spinther 
and  Pamphilus  are  mentioned  by  Valerius  Maximus.  Spinther 
acted  in  partes  secundas,  i.  e.,  was  deuteragonist ;  while  Pamphilus 
acted  in  partes  tertias,  i.  e.,  was  tritagonist.  Spinther  was  so  like 
the  consul  P.  Cornelius  Lentulus  in  appearance  that  the  consul, 
says  Valerius,  received  the  cognomen  of  Spinther  from  the  actor. 
Q.  Caecilius  Metellus  Nepos,  the  colleague  of  Cornelius  in  the 
consulship,  was,  strange  to  say,  very  like  Pamphilus,  and  would 
have  received  the  cognomen  of  Pamphilus,  had  he  not  already  had 
that  of  Nepos.  Valerius  gives  this  note  because  of  the  remarkable 
coincidence  of  two  actors  of  the  same  troupe  appearing  on  the  stage 
at  the  time  when  the  two  consuls  whom  they  closely  resembled  were 
in  office.^^® 

The  mention  of  the  consuls  shows  Spinther  and  Pamphilus 
acting  in  the  year  57. 

SORIX 

The  archimime,  that  is  the  director  of  a  troupe  of  mimes,  Sorix, 
flourished  in  the  days  of  Sulla,  of  whom  he  was  a  friend."^  He  was 
a  contemporary  of  the  actor  of  comedy,  Koscius,  and  in  common 
with  his  great  contemporary  possibly  owed  his  advancement  to  the 
directorship  of  his  company  to  the  power  of  Sulla.  He  was,  as 
appears  from  an  inscription,  also  an  actor  of  partes  secundae: 

"*Plin.  N.  H.,  IX,  122;  Hor.  Sat.,  n,  2,  239. 
'^N,  H.,  X,  141-142. 

*"ix,  2.    The  translators  of  Friedlander's  Sittengesch,  have  again  added 
to  the  confusion  by  confusing  Pliny's  statement  with  that  of  Maximus. 
"^Suet.,  CaUg.,  57. 
^^  De  SirmUtud.  Form,  IX,  xiv,  4. 
"» Plut.,  Sulla,  36. 


356 


Roman  Actors 


C    Norbani  Soricis  secundarum   {sc.  partium)   Mag.  pagi  Aug. 
felicis  suhurhani.^^-"     Dessau  thinks  the  two  may  be  the  same,  as 
post    mortem    magistri    pagi    Augusti    imagines    eius    posuennt 
(Momms.),  aut  discipulus.^-^ 

DiPHILUS 

Aesopus  was  the  last  of  the  great  actors  of  tragedy  of  the  Eepub- 
lic  •  and  after  him  no  extended  notices  of  actors  occur.  Some  are 
mentioned  by  Cicero,  however.  Diphilus  acted  in  tragedy  at  the 
games  of  Apollo  in  the  year  56  b.  o.  Writing  to  Atticus  of  he 
waning  influence  of  Pompey,  Cicero  says :  "  The  feeling  of  the 

people  was  shown  most  clearly At  the  games  to  Apollo  the 

actor  Diphilus  made  a  pert  allusion  to  Pompey  in  the  words: 

Nostra  mi  sera  tu  es— Magnus. 

The  actor  was  encored  countless  times.     When  he  delivered  the 

lines : 

"  The  time  will  come  when  thou  wilt  deeply  mourn 
That  self-same  valour," 

the  whole  theatre  broke  into  applause  and  so  on  with  the  rest."  "' 
The  part  here  played  by  Diphilus,  Eibbeck  conjectures  to  be  that 
of  Prometheus  in  a  play  of  Accius  by  that  name,  where  the  Titans 
harangue  against  the  Tyrants  of  Olympus.^^^  The  same  story  of 
Diphilus  is  preserved  by  Valerius  Maximus.^^* 

Antipho 

A  tragic  actor  Antipho  performed  at  the  games  of  Apollo  in  the 
year  54.  Cicero  attended  what  was  seemingly  the  initial  appear- 
ance of  Antipho  on  the  9th  of  July  of  that  year.  He  approved 
neither  the  stature  nor  the  voice  of  the  actor,  though  the  orator 
states  that  Antipho  won  the  prize.  He  was  acting  a  woman's  part, 
the  title  role  of  the  Andromache  of  Ennius:  "I  entered  the 
theater,"  says  Cicero.  "At  first  I  was  greeted  with  loud  and  general 
applause.  .  .  .  Then  I  turned  my  attention  to  Antipho.  He  had 
been  manumitted  before  being  brought  on  the  stage.    Not  to  keep 


^*>  Inscr.  Lat.,  ed.  Dessau,  5198 

*"  Log.  dt.,  n.  1. 

*«  Rom.  Trag.  i,  p.  676-677. 


C.  I.  L.,  10,  814. 

^^Ad.  Att.,  II,  19,  3. 


. 


G.  Kenneth  G,  Henry 


35: 


rv 


134 


VI,   2,   9. 


you  in  suspense,  he  bore  away  the  palm.  But  never  was  anything 
so  dwarfish,  so  destitute  of  voice,  so — but  keep  this  to  yourself. 
However,  in  the  Andromache  he  was  just  taller  than  the  little  boy 
Astyanax,  who  was  the  only  smaller  person  on  the  stage;  among 
the  rest  he  had  no  one  equal  to  his  own  in  height,  or  as  bad  an 
actor."  ^2« 

Antipho  was  apparently  granted  his  freedom  before  he  had 
proved  his  merit,  a  practice  out  of  the  common.  It  seems,  there- 
fore, that  his  master  paid  him  this  especial  favor  that  he  might  win 
the  public  approval  for  his  protege :  success  was  so  certain,  argued 
the  master  to  the  public,  that  freedom  should  be  granted  in  advance 
of  his  appearance.  Watson  suggests  that  Antipho  was  possibly  a 
freedman  of  Milo.^^^ 

Cicero  on  this  occasion,  that  is,  of  the  games,  was  more  favorably 
impressed  with  the  performance  of  Arbuscula:  "she  had  a  great 
success  " ;  valde  placuit}^'^ 

Laberius 

The  writer  of  mimes,  Decimus  Laberius,  who  with  remarkable 
success  attempted  to  give  a  literary  importance  to  that  form  of 
popular  farce,  was  also  an  actor.  His  appearance  on  the  stage  was, 
however,  due  to  the  compulsion  of  Julius  Caesar;  and  primarily 
Laberius  was  a  writer  rather  than  an  actor. 

The  story  of  Laberius's  appearance  on  the  stage  is  told  by 
Macrobius.  Caesar,  wishing  to  humiliate  the  composer,  for  Laberius 
was  a  knight,  invited  him  to  act  his  own  composition :  invitavit  ut 
prodiret  in  scaenam  et  ipse  ageret  mimos  quos  scriptitahat.^^^ 
Laberius,  recognizing  that  the  invitation  of  the  dictator  was  equal 
to  a  command,  reluctantly  complied.  He,  however,  took  his 
vengeance  on  Caesar  for  thus  wounding  his  pride  by  composing  a 
prologue  for  his  first  production,  in  which  he  frankly  exhibited 
his  wounded  feelings.  Moreover,  in  the  course  of  his  acting  he 
gave  strong  expression  to  his  detestation  of  tyranny.  While  acting 
the  part  of  a  Syrian  slave  suffering  under  the  lash,  he  cried :  porro 
Quirites,  libertatem  perdimus;  and  then  added:  necesse  est  multos 
timeat  quem  multi  timent.^^^ 

^"Ad.  Att,  IV,  15,  6.  ^Ad.  loc.  cit. 

"'  Loc.  cit.  ^=«  Macr.  ii,  vn,  2. 

"'Macr.  II,  vn,  2.  Macrobius  preserves  the  whole  prologue  from  Aul. 
Gell.,  vin,  15. 


358 


Roman  Actors 


The  freedom  of  speech  employed  by  Laberius  put  him  in  the 
disfavor  of  Csesar,  who  therefore  became  a  partisan  of  the  actor 
Publilius  Syrus.  Publilius  was  a  much  younger  man  than  Laberius, 
the  latter  being,  at  the  time  of  his  stage  appearance,  sixty  years 
of  age : 

ego  bis  tricentis  annis  actis  sine  nota 
eques  Romanus  e  Lare  egressus  meo 
(domum  revertar  mimus.**' 

He  was  compelled  by  Caesar  to  compete  in  acting  with  the  younger 
actor.  In  the  contest  Laberius  was  defeated.  He  took  his  defeat 
with  a  good  grace,  and  when  his  next  new  mime  was  composed,  he 
inserted  the  lines : 

Non  possunt  primi  esse  omnes  in  tempore. 
iSummum  ad  gradum  cum  claritatis  veneris, 
Consistes  aegre  et  citius  quam  escendas  cades: 
cecidi  ego,  cadet  qui  sequitur :  laus  est  publica.'" 

Laberius  did  not  long  survive  this  second  recorded  appearance  on 
the  stage.  He  acted,  it  seems,  in  the  year  45  b.  c.  :  ludi^  Decimus 
Laberius  eques  Romanus  mimum  suum  egitP^  He  died  in  January 
of  the  year  43 :  Laberius  mimorum  scriptor  decimo  mense  post  C. 
Caesaris  interitum  Putiolis  moriturP^  Caesar  had  been  generous 
enough  to  restore  to  him  the  rank  of  knight  which  he  had  lost  by 
his  acting,  the  gift  of  the  golden  ring  so  indicating :  unde  Caesar 
adridens  hoc  modo  pronuntiavit :  '  favente  tibi  me  victus  es,  Laberi, 
a  Syro;  statimque  Publilio  palmam  et  Laberio  anulum  aureum  cum 
quingentis  sestertiis  dedit.^^* 

Publilius 

Publilius  Syrus,  in  contrast  with  Decimus  Laberius,  was 
primarily  an  actor  of  plays  rather  than  a  writer.  While  forty-four 
titles  of  the  poetic  compositions  of  Laberius  are  preserved,  only 
two  of  those  of  Publilius  are  known.  Teuffel  points  out  that  this 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  only  stage-copies  of  his  plays  were  ever  in 
circulation.     His  compositions  were  largely  improvisations. 

'^  Lab.,  Prol.,  v,  7  ff. 

*"*  Macr.,  II,  vn,  9. 

*»»Suet.,  luL,  39. 

1"  Hiex.,  Eus.  Chron.  43  b.  c.     Cf.  Suet.,  Reliq.,  ed.  Roth,  p.  295. 

"*  Macr.,  n,  vii,  8. 


G.  Kenneth  G.  Henry 


359 


He  came  from  Syria:  Publilius  mimographus  riatione  Syrus 
Romae  scaenam  tenet}^^  He  was  brought  to  Eome  in  company 
with  two  of  his  fellow  countrymen,  both  of  whom  rose  to  some 
eminence,  the  astrologer  Manlius  Antiochus  and  the  grammarian 
Eros  Staberius:  Publilium  locJiium  (Antiochum)  mimicae  scaenae 
conditorem,  et  astrologiae  consobrinum  eius  Manlium  Antiochum 
item  grammaticae  Staberium  Erotem  eadem  nave  advectos  videre 
His  witticisms  which  later  won  him  such  fame  on  the 


136 


proavi 

Roman  stage  also  earned  his  manumission.^^^  He  began  his  career 
in  the  provincial  towns :  manu  missus  et  maiore  cura  eruditus,  cum 
mimos  componeret,  ingentique  adsensu  in  Italiae  oppidis  agere 
coepisset,  productus  Romae  per  Caesaris  ludos}^^  At  Eome  he 
challenged  all  comers  to  compete  with  him  on  the  stage  both  as 
actor  and  as  composer.^^^  He  won  against  all  competitors.  The 
contest  with  Decimus  Laberius  has  been  related  under  the  sketch 
of  that  actor. 

How  such  exalted  sentiments  as  are  expressed  in  the  fragments 
of  Publilius's  mimes  could  be  put  in  the  mouths  of  characters 
acting  in  mere  farce  is  as  surprising  as  that  they  should  be  improvi- 
sations. Seneca  remarks  that  many  of  his  lines  are  more  appro- 
priate to  the  buskin  than  the  slipper : 

Publilius,  tragicis  eomicisque  vehementior  ingeniis,  quotiens  mimicas 
ineptias  et  verba  ad  summam  caveam  spectantia  reliquit,  inter  multa  alia 
cothurno,  non  tantum  sipario,  fortiora  et  hoc  ait.  (Sen.,  de  tranq.  an., 
11,  8).  quantum  disertissimorum  versuum  inter  mimos  iacet;  quam 
multa  Publilii  non  excalceatis,  sed  cothurnatis  dicenda  sunt/'*' 

Publilius  amassed  great  wealth,  and  lived  in  extravagant  luxury. 
Pliny  says  that  he  never  gave  a  dinner  without  providing  sow's 
udder  for  his  guest,  an  extravagance  denied  the  palates  of  even 
the  patricians.^*^ 

Herennius 

The  only  mention  made  of  the  actor  Herennius  Gallus  represents 
him  as  acting  in  the  provinces.  The  younger  Balbus,  nephew  of 
Cicero's  client  Balbus,  honored  Herennius  during  the  games  at 


*«  Suet.,  ReUq.,  ed.  Roth,  p.  295. 
^"^Macrob.,  ii,  vii,  6. 


*^  PI.,  ^\  E.,  35,  199. 
^^  Macrob.,  loc.  cit. 


^"Loc.  cit.  and  Hoffman,  Rh.  M.,  39,  471. 

^*^Ep.,  8,  8.  ^^'N.  H.,  vm,  51,  208. 


360 


Roman  Actors 


Gades,  in  the  year  43  b.  c,  by  making  him  a  Eoman  knight :  ludis, 
quos  Gadihus  fecit,  Eerennium  Galium  histrionem,  summo  ludorum 
die  anulo  aureo  donatum  in  XIV  deduxit:  "led  him  to  a  seat  in 
the  fourteen  rows,  for  he  had  arranged  that  number  of  rows  for  men 
of  equestrian  rank."  ^^^  This  bestowal  of  the  golden  ring,  says 
Cicero,  Balbus  did  in  imitation  of  Julius  Caesar.  The  reference  is 
to  Caesar's  action  in  giving  the  ring  to  D.  Laberius  after  his 
degradation  in  mimic  theatricals.^*^ 

OriLnjs 

Pliny  mentions  an  actor  of  comedy  by  the  name  of  M.  Ofilius 
Hilarus.  Teuffel  assigns  him  to  probably  the  seventh  century  of 
the  Republic.^**  Pliny  relates  only  the  story  of  his  death,  handed 
down  ab  antiquis: 

Operosissima  tamen  securitas  mortis  in  M.  Ofilio  Hilaro  ab  antiquis 
traditur.  comoediarum  histrio  is,  cum  populo  admodum  placuisset  natali 
die  suo  conviviumque  haberet,  edita  cena  calidam  potionem  in  pultario 
poposoit  simulque  personam  eius  diei  acceptam  intuens  coronam  e  capite 
suo  in  earn  transtulit,  tali  babitu  rigens  nullo  sentiente,  donee  accubantium 
proximus  tepescere  potionem  admoneret.^** 


FuFius.    Catienus 

Horace  in  his  humorous  vein  satirizes  two  tragic  actors  of  the 
names  of  Fufius  and  Catienus.  They  acted,  it  seems,  in  a  play  of 
Pacuvius,  a  tragedy  called  Ilione.  Ilione,  daughter  of  Priam  and 
wife  of  Polymnestor,  King  of  Thrace,  had  substituted  her  brother, 
Polydorus,  for  her  son,  Deiphilus,  whom  Polymnestor  murdered 
supposing  that  it  was  Polydorus.^"*^  Horace  represents  Fufius  and 
Catienus  acting  in  a  scene  where  the  ghost  of  Deiphilus  appears 
in  his  mother's  bed-chamber,  calling  on  her  to  give  his  body  burial : 

Mater,  te  appello  quae  curam  somno  suspensam  levas, 
Neque  te  mei  miseret;  surge  et  sepeli  natum."' 


**»€ic.,  Ad  Fam.^x,  32,  2. 

^^  The  inscription  C.  I.  L.,  x,  4587  may  refer  to  Herennius. 

^**Teuf.,  16,  14. 

»«  N.  H.,  VII,  186. 

**•  Cf.  the  plot  of  the  Hecuba  of  Euripides. 

"'  Preserved  by  Cicero,  Tusc.  Disp.,  i,  44. 


G,  Kenneth  G,  Henry 


361 


Horace  represents  Fufius  acting  the  part  of  Ilione,  asleep  in  the 
bed,  while  Catienus  was  the  ghost  Deiphilus.  But  when  the  ghost 
cried  '  mater,  te  appello/  Fufius  failed  to  respond ;  for  he  was 
drunk  and  had  actually  fallen  asleep  in  his  bed;  and,  says  Horace, 
'if  one  thousand  two  hundred  Catienuses  had  shouted  in  his  ear 
he  would  not  have  heard  them.'  Fufius  slept  out  his  part  instead 
of  acting  it :  Ilionem  edormit}^^  Nothing  more  is  known  of  these 
actors,  though  Cicero  refers  to  the  passage  in  the  play  more  than 
once,  and  the  words  Mater,  te  appello  became  proverbial.^*®  Por- 
phyrio  gives  Fufius'  name  Fufius  Phocaeus.^^*^ 


Lepos 

Lepos,  whose  talents  Horace  and  his  friends  did  not  care  to 
discuss,^^^  was  a  dancer  and  mimic  actor  of  the  Eoman  stage.  As 
a  mimus  he  recited  poetry  and  acted  parts  in  the  farces  of  the 
same  name.  The  name  Lepos  is  his  stage  pseudonym,  given  him, 
says  the  Scholiast,  and  as  the  word  imports,  quod  iucunde  et  mol- 
liter  saltaret  et  loquetur}^^  Acron  says:  nomen  opinatissimi 
saltatoris,  grati  Caesari.^^^ 

DOSSENUS 

The  Dossenus  of  Horace  ^^*  may  well  be  an  actor.  It  is  often 
assumed  that  he  is  a  character  in  a  play  of  Plautus.  In  the  margin 
of  one  of  Orelli's  mss.  is  Dossenus:  persona  comica.^^^  Cruquius 
makes  him  a  writer  of  Atellanae.^^®  Others  make  him  the  same  as 
Fabius  Dossenus.^^^  He  is  quite  possibly  a  type — a  standing  char- 
acter of  Atellanae.  Horace's  description,  however,  well  charac- 
terizes a  comic  actor  of  the  day : 

Dossenus,  great  in  hungry  parasites, 
Shuffles,  in  slipshod  fashion,  on  the  stage, 
Intent  on  present  profit  from  his  plays  j 


i«  Hor.,  Sat.,  ii,  3,  61. 

^  Ad  Hor.,  loc.  cit. 

"'  Porph.,  ad  loc.  cit. 

^^Epp.,  n,  1,  73. 

*"  Yid.  Long  and  Macleane's  Horace,  loc.  cit. 

**»Cf.  also  theories  of  Schmitz,  and  Porphyrio. 

»""  Pliny,  2^.  H.,  xiv,  15. 


*«Cic.,  Pro  8est.,  59;  Acad.,  2,  27. 
"^  Hor.,  Sat.,  ii,  6,  72. 
"'Ad  loc.  oit. 


362 


Roman  Actors 


And  caring  little  for  prospective  fame 

Him  wliom  vain  glory  to  the  stage  attracts 

Applause  puffs  up  and  inattention  chills; 

And  threatens  riot  if  the  knights  dissent, 

'When  they  cry  out  for  bears  or  pugilists, 

And  sometimes  the  knight  himself  will  starve  his  ears 

To  feed  his  eye  on  tinsel  pageantries.^* 


Bathyllos 

Under  the  Empire  the  pantomimic  art  found  more  favor  than 
either  the  regular  drama  or  the  art  of  mimes.  The  populace 
patronized  the  mimes,  the  upper  classes  the  pantomimes.  Of  the 
latter,  Bathyllos  was  the  first  great  exponent.  He  developed  the 
dramatic  dance  into  an  independent  art  under  Augustus  about 
22  B.  c.  He  was  a  great  favorite  of  Maecenas.^^^  Bathyllos  was 
the  founder  of  the  comic  dramatic  dance,  while  his  great  rival 
Pylades  originated  the  tragic  species.  The  rivalry  of  these  two 
actors  led  to  the  greatest  disorder  in  the  theater :  "  The  games  in 
honor  of  Augustus,"  says  Tacitus,  ^^  began  then  first  to  be  embroiled 
by  dissention  arising  out  of  the  performance  of  pantomimes. 
Augustus  had  countenanced  that  pastime  out  of  complaisance  to 
Maecenas,  who  was  a  passionate  admirer  of  Ba'thyllos."  ^^°  Hence 
Bathyllos  suffered  only  a  rebuke  from  Augustus.  Such  disturb- 
ances, says  Dio  Cassius,  lessened  the  attention  of  the  populace  to 
more  serious  public  movements.^®^ 

Bathyllos  came  from  Alexandria,  we  are  told.  His  specialty 
being  comedy,  he  represented  such  characters  as  Pan  and  Echo  or 
a  Satyr  enflamed  by  Eros:  Pylades  in  comoedia,  Bathyllos  in 
tragoedia  multum  a  se  aherant.^^^  He  was  also  a  teacher  of  his 
art  and  established  a  school :  Stat  per  successores  Pyladis  et  BatJiylU 
domus;  harum  artium  multi  discipuli  sunt  multique  doctores?^^ 

Juvenal  tells  of  the  skill  of  a  Bathyllos  in  his  day,  a  pantomime 
who  doubtless  took  the  name  from  the  first  and  greater  artist  of 
the  time  of  Augustus.    Here  the  perfection  to  which  refinement  in 


^Epp.,  n,  1,  172-185.     Trans.  Hovender. 

«»Dio  Cass.,  54,  17. 

^^  Ann.,  I,  54;  vid.  et.  Dio  Cass.,  54,  17. 

*"  Loc.  cit. 

"^'Sen.,  Epist.,  ii,  1;  Fried.  B.,  n,  p.  351. 

^<«Sen.,  n.  q.,  vn,  32. 


G.  Kenneth  G,  Henry 


363 


the  art  of  dancing  was  developed  is  vividly  sketched :  "  When  the 
beautiful  boy  Bathyllos,'^  says  Juvenal,  "was  dancing  Lede,  the 
most  impudent  actor  of  mimes  felt  like  a  mere  novice  in  the  art  of 
sensual  refinement."^®*  This  Bathyllos  belongs  to  the  time  of 
Domitian  or  Trajan. 

Pylades 

These  dramatic  dancers  developed  their  art  to  great  perfection. 
Seductive  grace  was  the  prime  requirement.  Apuleius  relates  how 
his  step-son's  father-in-law  became  by  practicing  the  pantomime's 
art  so  pliable  in  body  that  he  seemed  to  have  no  thews  and  sinews 
at  all.^®^  Pylades,  a  Cicilian,  was  the  great  rival  of  Bathyllos.  He 
developed  especially  the  comic  dance.^^®  Dio  Cassius  and  Macro- 
bius  relate  most  of  the  incidents  of  his  career  known  to  us. 
"  Augustus  allowed,"  says  Dio,  "^  those  praetors  who  so  desired,  to 
spend  on  the  festivals  besides  what  was  given  them  from  the  public 
treasury,  three  times  as  much  again,  so  that  even  if  some  were 
vexed  by  reason  of  his  other  regulations,  yet  by  reason  of  this  one 
alone  because  he  brought  back  one  Pylades,  a  dancer,  driven  out 
on  account  of  civil  quarrels,  they  remembered  them  no  longer. 
Hence  Pylades  is  said  to  have  rejoined  very  cleverly  when  the 
Emperor  rebuked  him  for  having  quarreled  with  Bathyllos,  an 
artist  in  the  same  line,  and  a  relative  of  Maecenas :  "  It  is  to 
your  advantage,  Caesar,  that  the  populace  exhaust  its  energies 
over  us. 


yy  167 


Pylades  acted  characters  drawn  from  the  regular  drama.  With 
great  success  he  appeared  in  the  part  of  Hercules  in  the  Hercules 
Furens.  When  some  thought  that  he  did  not  display  movements 
becoming  a  dancer,  laying  aside  his  mask,  he  shouted  at  those 
laughing  at  his  performance:    "Fools,   I   am   dancing   a   mad- 


man. 


y>  168 


In  this  play  he  also  hurled  arrows  at  the  people.  The  character 
of  the  mad  Hercules  he  also  acted  before  Augustus.  The  Emperor 
showed  his  appreciation  and  admiration  by  announcing  that  he  was 
as  much  taken  with  Pylades  as  was  the  Koman  populace:  eodem 
se  loco  Pyladi  quo  populum  Romanum  fuisse}^^ 


^*  Sat.,  VI,  63-66. 
"•Sen.,  Ep.,  II,  1. 
^  Maerob.,  ii,  vii,  16. 


^'^ApoL,  c.  74. 
"^  54,  17. 

1«9 


Macr.,  n,  vn,  17. 


364 


Roman  Actors 


In  answer  to  Augustus's  query  as  to  what  he  had  contributed  to 
the  dancing  art,  Pylades  answered :  ''  The  crash  of  flutes  and  pipes, 
the  din  of  men/'  ^^^ 

Pylades  accumulated  great  wealth  and  in  his  old  age,  2  b.  c.^ 
he  had  spectacles  presented  at  Eome :  "  He  conducted  certain 
games,  not  performing  any  manual  labor  in  connection  with  them 
(since  he  was  now  an  old  man  of  advanced  age),  but  employing  the 
Insignia  of  office  and  authorizing  the  necessary  expenditures.'^  ^^^ 

Suetonius  intimates  that  it  was  a  new  art  that  Pylades  intro- 
duced: Pylades,  Cilix,  panto mimus,  cum  veteres  ipsi  canerent 
atque  saltarent,  primus  Romae  chorum  et  fistulam  sihi  praecinere 
fecit.^'^ 

Another  Pylades  was  the  favorite  of  Trajan.  That  Emperor 
brought  him  back  to  the  theatre.^^^  He  was  freed  by  Hadrian.^^* 
A  third  gave  extravagant  exhibitions  under  Commodus  at 
Puteoli.^"^  These  later  followers  of  the  art  established  by  the  first 
took  his  name,  suggests  Friedlander.^^^  The  first  and  greatest  of 
the  artists  of  the  name  founded  schools :  stat  per  successores  Pyla- 
dis  et  Bathylli  domus}'^'^  An  inscription  at  Pompeii  intimates  that 
Pylades  acted  outside  of  Eome;  a  festival  given  by  a  high  official 
in  honor  of  Apollo  was  celebrated  in  song  and  recitation  by  "  all 
the  pantomimes  and  Pylades."^^®  His  most  famous  exhibition  was 
in  the  impersonation  of  Bacchus.  In  that  part,  "he  seemed  the 
god  on  earth  reincarnated."  ^^® 

Pylades  also,  it  is  said,  wrote  a  treatise  on  his  special  art,  in 
addition  to  founding  a  school  of  his  theories  of  tragic  pantomime. ^®° 
The  comic  species  of  Bathyllos  lasted  at  least  to  the  time  of 
Plutarch,  but  the  tragedy  of  Pylades  usurped  its  place  and  con- 
tinued much  later.^*^ 


"°  Macrob.,  cit.  loc. 

"*  Dio  Cass.,  55,  10.  The  translation  of  Dio  here  and  elsewhere  is  that 
of  H.  B.  Foster. 

^''^Reliq.,  ed.  Roth,  p.  301.  "''Dio  Cass.,  68,  10. 

"*  C.  I.  L.,  v,  7753. 

"*Friedl.,  Anhang  zu  dritten  Ahschnitt,  p.  265;  Inscript.  Lat.,  ed.  Des- 
60U,  5186. 

""^  Sittengesch.,  B.  2,  p.  461.  ^"  Sen.,  qu.  n.,  vii,  32. 

'™0.  7.  L.,  X.  1074.  "Kinthol.  Gr.,  ed.  Jacobs,  p.  162. 

«»Athen.,  1,  1. 

^«^  Plut.,  1,  1. 


G.  Kenneth  G.  Henry 


365 


Hylas 

The  most  famous  pupil  of  Pylades  of  whom  mention  is  made 
was  Hylas.  Macrobius  states  that  Hylas  was  so  well  trained  that 
Pylades  had  him  compete  with  him,  the  master,  in  public  compe- 
titions :  "  The  people  were  divided  in  their  votes  between  the  two. 
When,  however,  Hylas  was  dancing  a  certain  canticum,  of  which 
a  clausula  was  rov  fiiyav  'Aya/xc/Avova,  Hylas  tried  to  represent 
Agamemnon's  great  size  of  body  by  standing  on  tip-toe.  Pylades 
could  not  stand  that,  and  cried  out  from  his  seat  in  the  cavea: 
(TV  fiaKpov  ov  fx€yav  TTotcts.  ^  You  make  him  tall,  not  great.'  Then 
the  audience  made  Hylas  dance  again  the  canticum,  and  when  he 
came  to  the  place  where  he  had  blundered,  he  represented  Agamem- 
non in  meditation,  thinking  that  nothing  could  be  more  befitting 
a  great  leader  than  to  be  thinking  for  all  others."  Pylades  could 
not  approve  of  the  representation  of  meditation  while  the  actor 
was  speaking.^ ®2  Again,  Hylas  was  interpreting  the  blind  Oedipus ; . 
Pylades  challenged  the  assurance  of  the  dancer  with  telling  him: 
(TV  pXeTTas :  "  You  act  as  though  you  see."  ^^^ 

Augustus  took  occasion  to  call  Pylades  to  account  because  of  the 
sedition  of  the  people  occasioned  by  the  rivalry  between  him  and 
Hylas.  With  great  self-possession  the  master  dancer  replied: 
"Verily  0  King,  you  are  unappreciative :  Let  them  busy  them- 
selves over  us."  ^®*  Both  Pylades  and  Hylas  suffered  the  penalty 
of  belonging  to  a  profession  which  the  laws  of  Eome  always  penal- 
ized :  Hylas  was  flogged  in  the  atrium  of  his  house,  and  Pylades 
suffered  banishment  because  he  had  pointed  his  finger  at  a  man  in 
the  audience  who  hissed  him.^®^ 

NoMius.    Theoeus 

Other  rivals,  in  the  pantomimic  art  of  Bathyllos  and  Pylades 
were  Nomius  the  Syrian,  Pierus  of  Tibur  and  Gains  Theoros.^^® 
Nomius,  as  related  by  Seneca,  was  once  censured  for  not  moving 
his  feet  and  his  hands  in  harmony :  Nomio  cum  velocitas  pedum 
non   concedatur  tantum   sed   oliciatur,   lentiores  manus  sunt}^'^ 


189 


n,  VII,  12  flf.  ^^  Macrob.,  loc.  cit. 

^  Maorob.,  loc.  cit.  *"  Suet.,  1,  1. 

^  Friedlander,  Sittengesch.,  B.  n,  p.  451. 
""  Controv.,  in,  praef.  10. 


366 


Roman  Actors 


Theoros  was  ''the  light  and  conqueror  of  the  pantomimes,  who 
enchanted   even   the  god;   how  can   men   hesitate  to  follow   the 
.  god?''^«« 

Gaius  Theoros  lux  victor  pantomim. 

•Si  deus  ipse  tua  captus  nunc  a(rte)    Theorost, 

a(n)  duibitant  h(omines)  velle  imit(are)  deum?**» 


Princeps 

The  flute-player  Princeps  regularly  accompanied  the  perform- 
ances of  Bathyllos.  A  story  of  the  vanity  of  this  man  is  related  by 
the  fabulist  Phaedrus.  Friedlander  gives  the  account  thus :  "  The 
flute-player  broke  his  leg  while  the  scene  was  being  changed,  owing 
to  his  own  carelessness  or  the  fall  of  some  scenery.  He  was  con- 
fined to  his  bed  for  several  months  and  the  artistic  public  greatly 
missed  his  performances.  When  he  was  able  to  walk  again,  a  dis- 
tinguished personage,  who  was  arranging  a  spectacle,  asked  Prin- 
ceps to  appear  in  it.  The  curtain  fell,  the  thunder  rolled,  the  gods 
spoke  in  the  usual  manner ;  after  which  the  chorus  struck  up  a  song, 
the  words  of  which  were  unknown  to  Princeps,  beginning  with 
'  Eejoice  aloud,  0  Rome ;  thy  Prince  is  safe  and  sound.'  The  public 
rose  and  applauded ;  Princeps,  thinking  the  applause  was  meant  for 
him,  threw  kisses  to  the  spectators;  the  knights,  whose  seats  were 
in  the  front  of  the  house,  observed  his  folly  and  conceit,  and  laugh- 
ing loudly  demanded  an  encore.  The  song  was  repeated;  Princeps 
bowed  to  the  ground  on  the  stage ;  the  knights  again  applauded  in 
mockery.  The  general  public  at  first  believed  he  was  asking  for  a 
crown.  But  when  his  real  meaning  became  known,  the  impudent 
fellow,  who  had  dared  claim  the  homage  paid  to  the  divine  house, 
was  thrown  out  amidst  general  indignation,  '  with  his  beautiful 
white  leg-bandages,  white  tunic,  and  white  shoes.'  ^'  ^®° 


**  Friedl.  B.  n,  p.  451. 

**"  (In  parte  aversa,  in  medio)  Theoros  victor  pantimimorum.  (Circa 
marginem)  Pyladem  Cilicia,  Pierum  Tibertin.,  Hyla.  Salmacid.,  Nomium 
Suria.     {Inscrip.  Lat.,  ed.  Dessau,  5197.) 

^"^  Friedl.,  Sittengesch.,  trans.  Freese  and  Magnus;  Phaed.,  5,  7.  For  an 
inscription  referring  probably  to  this  Princeps  see  Inscr.  Lat.,  ed.  Dessau, 
6239. 


G.  Kenneth  G.  Henry 


367 


Paris 

Of  all  the  pantomimic  dancers,  Paris,  the  minion  of  Domitian, 
is  the  most  renowned  and  among  the  most  infamous  under  the 
Empire.    The  chronology  of  the  vitae  of  Juvenal,  the  chief  source 
for  arriving  at  Paris's  date,  is  too  obscure  to  give  information  that 
would  definitely  fix  Paris's  date.    He  evidently  belongs  to  the  last 
days  of  the  Emperor  Domitian.     The  vitae  would  have  it  that 
Juvenal  directed  the  shafts  of  his  satire  against  the  actor.     The 
first  vita  says:  "There  was  at  that  time  among  the  dandies  of 
the  court  an  actor  (histrio)  of  the  court  and  many  of  his  admirers 
were  daily  banished.     Juvenal  therefore  became  an  object  of  sus- 
picion and  was  banished  in  his  80th  year."     Paris,  however,  was 
put  to  death  in  83  a.  d.,  and  Juvenal  was  writing  satires  long  after 
100  A.  D.    The  vitae  are  all  agreed,  however,  that  the  influence  of 
Paris  at  court  brought  about  the  banishment  of  the  satirist.  Again, 
Paris  could  hardly  have  been  ashamed  of  the  influence  with  which 
Juvenal  charged  him,  nor  could  he  have  been  much  abashed  by  the 
prominence  accorded  him  by  Juvenal's  satire,  but  must  rather  have 
boasted  of  it :  the  complaint  to  the  Emperor  would  more  naturally 
have  come  through  the  nobles  than  through  the  dancer.^^^ 

Paris  was  not  only  a  pantomimic  dancer  but  also  an  actor  of  the 
regular  drama :  "  Statins  may  recite  verses  whose  popularity  will 
bring  down  the  house  with  applause,  but  he  may  starve  unless  he 
sells  his  unpublished  Agave  to  Paris."  ^®^  This  suggestion  here  of 
the  purchase  of  a  tragedy  by  Paris  may  even  suggest  that  Paris  was 
a  magister  gregis,  a  presenter  of  plays  himself.  Such  a  reference 
to  the  purchase  of  a  play  by  a  play-actor  or  a  stage-manager  is 
supported,  to  be  sure,  by  but  one  other  passage,  viz.,  in  the  prologue 
to  the  Hauton  Timorumenos  of  the  days  of  Terence,  where  Am- 
bivius  Turpio,  as  prologuist,  speaks  of  plays  purchased  at  his  own 
expense.  Moreover,  the  statement  of  Juvenal  is  not  to  the  effect 
that  Statins  actually  sold  his  Agave  to  Paris.  Statius  may,  of 
course,  have  gone  hungry:  this  may  be  pure  satire.  Friedlander 
goes  beyond  the  mark  in  both  his  Belles  Lettres  and  his  Spectacles 
in  stating  that  Paris  actually  purchased  the  tragedy. 


»«  Vid.,  Mayor,  Sat.  Juv.,  vii,  88. 
^•'Juv.,  Sat.y  vn,  87. 


368 


Roman  Actors 


Suetonius  in  the  vita  of  Juvenal  speaks  of  Paris  as  a  playwright, 
poeta;  and  again  as  histrio,  which  also  appears  in  the  Satires  of 
Juvenal.  It  is  folly  to  say  that,  in  Juvenal,  this  is  because  panto- 
mimus  is  not  admissible  in  dactyllic  verse,  as  the  commentators 
state.  Histrio  may  often  under  the  empire  be  restricted  to  the 
meaning  of  pantomimus,  but  not  always.  Paris  could  not  be  poeta  ■ 
and  actor  of  tragedies,  or  a  manager,  and  at  the  same  time  be 
nothing  more  than  a  pantomimic  dancer. 

His  popularity  is  indicated  by  Juvenal  ^^^  in  a  verse  where  a 
faithless  wife  is  represented  as  showing  no  concern  for  her  children 
or  her  native  land,  "  and,'^  adds  Juvenal,  "  quitted  the  shows  and 

Paris." 

According  to  Martial,  Paris  came  from  Egypt:  Nili  sales.^^* 
Pliny  the  Elder,  evidently  referring  to  Paris,  says  that  the  yearly 
income  of  a  pantomime  who  had  purchased  his  freedom  was  greater 
than  the  highest  price  ever  paid  for  a  slave,  i.  e.,  700,000  sesterces, 
in  the  case  of  the  grammarian  Daphnis.^®^  He  was,  according  to  the 
account  of  Dio  Cassius,  put  to  death  because  of  an  intrigue  with 
the  Empress  Domitia :  "  Domitian,"  says  Dio,  "  planned  to  put  his 
wife  to  death,  but  being  dissuaded,  he  sent  her  away  and  midway 
on  the  road  murdered  Paris,  because  of  her."  ^^® 

An  artistic  epigram  by  Martial  does  Paris  justice :  ^^  Wanderer 
on  the  via  Flaminia,  do  not  pass  by  this  noble  monument;  the 
delight  of  Kome,  the  wit  of  Alexandria,  merriment,  joy,  the  grief 
and  the  glory  of  the  Roman  stage  and  all  the  goddesses  of  love  lie 
buried  here  with  Paris."  ^^^  After  his  death  many  brought  flowers 
and  perfumes  to  his  tomb :  "  When  many  paid  honor  to  the  spot 
with  flowers  and  perfumes,  Domitian  gave  orders  that  they  too 
should  be  slain."  ^^^ 

The  name  Paris  was,  of  course,  a  stage  pseudonym  taken  from 
the  more  illustrious  Paris  of  Troy.^^^  Many  others  adopted  the 
same  name  after  a  convention  of  the  stage.  Under  Nero  a  Paris 
had  maintained  the  favoritism  of  the  Emperor  even  against  the 


^^Sat.,  VI,  87. 
*»»  N.  H.,  7,  128. 
"^xi,  13. 

199 


»*n,  13,  3. 
"•lxvii,  3. 

198 


Dio  Cass.,  Lxvn,  3. 


The  story  of  Paris  of  Troy,  especially  the  legend  of  the  Golden  Apples, 
was  a  favorite  theme  for  the  pantomimes.  [Vid.,  Apuleius,  Met.,  x,  pp. 
232-236.). 


G,  Kenneth  G.  Henry 


369 


Empress-mother :  "  Paris  stood  so  high  in  the  favor  of  Nero  that 
he  even  accused  the  Empress-mother.  He  demanded  back  from 
Domitia,  the  paternal  aunt  of  the  Emperor,  10,000  sesterces  which 
he  had  paid  for  his  manumission,  on  the  ground  that  she  had  not 
legally  owned  him;  and  with  the  Emperor's  intervention  he  won 
his  case."  ^^^  Nero  had  him  executed  eleven  years  later,  a.  d.  67. 
He  had  been  spared  before,  says  Dio  Cassius,  "  because  he  was  too 
important  to  the  Emperor  in  his  debauches  to  suffer  punish- 
ment." ^°^  Suetonius  states  that  Nero's  reason  for  murdering  him 
was  that  Nero,  desiring  to  excel  in  dancing,  feared  a  rival  in  Paris, 
who  was  his  former  teacher.^^^  Lucian  relates  how  the  most  famous 
pantomime  of  Eome  at  the  time,  very  likely  Paris,  convinced  the 
philosopher  Demetrius,  who  lived  under  Nero,  that  he  was  mistaken 
in  supposing  that  the  art  of  the  pantomimes  was  defective  without 
music  and  chorus.  The  famous  dancer  performed  before  the  phil- 
osopher the  adultery  of  Mars  and  Venus.  "  His  dumb  show 
exhibited  so  effectually  the  sun-god  informing  the  deceived  husband, 
the  device  of  Vulcan  and  the  invisible  fetters,  Venus'  shame,  Mars^ 
entreaties,  and  all  the  other  gods  summoned  by  Vulcan,  that  the 
philosopher  admiringly  admitted  his  error.^°^ 

A  third  Paris  was  one  of  three  pantomimes  influential  at  the 
court  of  Lucius  Verus,  whom  that  Emperor  had  brought  from 
Syria  with  him.^°* 

Memphis 

Memphis  was  also  a  pantomime  whom  Lucius  Verus  had  at  his 
court,  one  of  those  whom  he  had  brought  from  Syria:  hahuit 
(Verus)  et  Agrippum  histrionem,  cui  cognomentum  erat  Memphi, 
quern  et  ipsum  e  Syria  veluti  trophaeum  adduxerat,  quern  Apolaus- 
tum  nominavit.^^^    He  was  put  to  death  under  Commodus.^*^^ 


^Tsic,  Ann.,  13,  27;  13,  19-22. 

^IIKYLU,   18. 

**'  Suet.,  Nero,  c.  54.     Cf.  Inscr.  Lat.,  ed.  Dessau,  5181a. 

**Luoian  Salt.,  ed.  Rei&ke,  m,  391,  23;  Friedl.,  n,  p.  454  trans.  Friesse, 
Magnus. 

***  Tid.  Inscr.  Lat.,  ed.  Dessau,  5203,  n.  2;  cf.  Epist.  Frontonis  ad  Verum, 
ed.  A.  Maius,  p.  98,  n.;  Galen,  ed.  Kuehn,  xii,  p.  454.  Friedlander  iden- 
tifies five  Parises:  I,  3,  104-105;  n,  2,  318,  336-338;   460,  anhang. 

^^  Epist.  ad  Verum,  8,  10,  Fronto,  ed.  A.  Maius,  p.  99,  n.  1. 

^  Athen.  i,  p.  20;  vid.  et  Inscr.  Lat.,  ed.  Dessau,  5187,  5203. 

6 


370 


Roman  Actors 


Demetrius 

The  two  most  worthy  representatives  of  the  regular  drama  under 
the  Empire  are  Demetrius  and  Stratocles.     The  large  proportion 
of  names  that  have  come  down  to  us  are  those  of  mimi  and  panto- 
mimi.    Trimalcio,  aping  the  fashionable  rich,  says  that  he  prefers 
that  the  troupe  of  actors  whom  he  has  bought  should  act  Atellanae 
rather  than  comedy.""'    Few  writers  of  the  legitimate  drama  indeed 
survived.    Afranius'  Incendium  was  acted  at  a  great  festival  given 
by  Nero ;  but  the  house  and  the  stage  were  given  over  to  the  actors 
to  plunder  as  reward  for  their  exhibition.2««     The  drama  of  the 
Koscian  period  had  become  obsolete.     ''  Studied  eloquence/^  says 
Tacitus,  "  in  judicial  proceedings  was  as  intolerable  as  a  gesture 
of  an  Ambivius  or  a  Roscius  on  the  stage."  ^os    Quintilian's  sketch, 
however,  of  Demetrius  and  Stratocles  indicates  that  there  was  a  line 
drawn  between  the  regular  and  the  degraded  forms  of  the  drama. 
The  art  of  these  two  actors  was  the  result  of  the  most  painstaking 
care  and  earnest  study ;  though  Juvenal  says  they  were  born  actors, 
and,  being  Greeks,  would  attract  no  special  attention  in  their  own 
country,  where  all  are  equally  good  actors.    He  gives  them  credit, 
however,  of  being  able  to  act  the  part  of  a  woman  character  to  the 

life.^^° 

Quintilian  makes  Demetrius  preeminent  for  the  rich  quality  of 

his  voice,  for  his  fine  figure  and  remarkable  beauty.  His  role  was 
in  representing  the  less  boisterous  characters  of  the  palliatae.  His 
repertoire  included  such  parts  as  gods,  youths,  good  fathers,  wives 
and  staid  old  ladies.  There  was  passion  in  his  gesture;  his  stage 
exclamations  and  ejaculations  were  unrivaled  in  their  prolongation 
and  harmony.  His  skill  in  inflating  his  garments  by  deep  breath- 
ing, as  he  walked,  and  his  gestures  with  the  right  side  are  noted  by 
Quintilian.^^^ 

Stratocles 

Stratocles,  on  the  other  hand,  was  more  successful  in  represent- 
ing passionate  old  men,  cunning  slaves,  parasites,  procurers,  and 
other  bustling  characters,  personae  motorme.    "  For  their  natural 


308 


Suet.,  Nero,  11. 


*"Petroii.,  Cena  Tr.,  54. 

^*  Dial,  de  Orat.y  c.  20. 

»» Juv.,  Sat.,  ni,  93-100;  vid.  Madvig,  Opusc,  \,  50. 

»*xi,  ni,  178-180. 


G.  Kenneth  G.  Henry 


371 


endowments  were  very  different,  as  even  the  voice  of  Demetrius  was 
more  pleasing  and  that  of  Stratocles  more  powerful.  But  what 
was  more  observable  was  their  individuality  of  action,  which  could 
not  have  been  transferred  from  one  to  the  other;  as  to  move  the 
hand  in  a  peculiar  way,  to  prolong  exclamations  in  an  agreeable 
tone  to  please  the  audience,  to  puff  out  the  garments,  could  have 
been  becoming  in  no  actor  but  Demetrius;  for  in  all  these  respects 
he  was  aided  by  a  good  stature  and  comely  person.  On  the  con- 
trary, hurry  and  perpetual  motion  and  a  laugh  not  altogether  in 
harmony  with  his  mask,  a  laugh  which  he  laughed  to  please  the 
people,  and  with  perfect  consciousness  of  what  he  was  doing,  or  a 
shrug  of  the  shoulders,  were  extremely  agreeable  in  Stratocles. 
But  whatever  excellence  either  had  would  have  proved  an  offensive 
failure  had  it  been  attempted  by  the  other  "  ^^^  Unfortunately,  we 
have  no  other  so  vivid  sketch  of  any  Roman  actor  except  the  sketch 
by  Cicero  of  Roscius. 


Antiochus.     Haemus. 

Juvenal  honors  Antiochus  and  Haemus  by  grouping  them  with 
Demetrius  and  Stratocles,  praised  so  highly  by  Quintilian.  Haemus 
was  soft  and  effeminate  in  his  utterance,  says  Juvenal.^^^  Else- 
where the  satirist  remarks  on  the  insinuating  tones  that  Haemus 
was  capable  of  using  in  his  passionate  parts.^^*  Both  he  and  An- 
tiochus were  actors  of  palliatae,  like  Demetrius  and  Stratocles; 
"and  none  of  the  four  would  attract  attention  in  his  own  land, 
Greece,  where  lives  a  nation  of  actors."  ^^^ 

Apelles 

A  tragic  actor  who  rose  to  eminence  on  the  stage  under  the 
Empire  was  Appelles.  He  lived  under  Caligula,  and  was  a  great 
favorite  of  that  patron  of  the  stage,  though  Caligula  did  not  on 
that  account  refrain  from  flogging  Apelles.  As  Suetonius  tells  it, 
Apelles  hesitated,  and  did  not  answer  the  Emperor  with  sufficient 
promptness,  when  the  two  were  standing  one  day  near  a  statue  of 
Jupiter,  the  question  whether  Jupiter  or  Caligula  was  the  greater. 
But  Caligula  immediately  shouted  his  praises  of  Apelles'  voice. 


"'Quint.,  loc.  cit. 
*'*8at.,  VI,  198. 


"^  Sat.,  m,  92. 
"*  Juv.,  loc.  cit. 


373 


Roman  Actors 


declaring  that  its  tones  were  very  sweet  even  in  groans.  The  equable 
quality  of  his  voice  won  the  admiration  of  Caligula  but  not  his 
mercy :  qua^i  etiam  in  gemitu  praeclarem.'^'  Eeal  groans  pleased 
him  even  better  than  the  feigned  suffering  of  the  tragic  stage. 

This  same  Apelles  is  probably  referred  to  again  in  Suetonius' 
Vespasmn  19,  where  an  Apelles '''  acted  at  the  games  in  honor  of 
the  dedication  of  the  restoration  of  the  temple  of  Marcellus,  erected 
by  Augustus.2^«  Of  the  actors  present  Apelles  received  the  highest 
reward,  400,000  sesterces.  ApeUes  was  at  this  time  past  the  prime 
of  life/ for  Suetonius  says  that  it  was  the  Vetera  acroamata,  whom 
Vespasian  recalled  at  this  time,  a.  d.  74. 

Dio  Cassius  represents  Apelles  as  the  foremost  tragedian  of  his 
time.  "  Gains  was/'  says  Dio,  "  the  slave  of  theatrical  performers 
and  dancers.  Indeed,  he  always  kept  Apelles,  the  most  famous  of 
the  tragedians  of  that  day,  with  him  in  public."  ^^'  Himself  origm- 
aUy  a  spectator,  Gains  finally  became  a  partisan  of  actors  and  at 
last  a  performer,  driving  chariots,  fighting  duels,  giving  exhibitions 
of  dancing  and  acting  in  tragedy .^^^  Apelles  was  doubtless  his 
teacher  in  theatricals. 

ACTIUS 

A  single  reference  gives  the  name  of  Actius  as  an  actor  of 
comedy.  He  was  granted  his  freedom  by  Tiberius,  not  because 
that  Emperor  took  any  special  interest  in  the  theater,  but  because 
the  manumission  of  Actius  was  urged  by  others,  who  were  the 
actor's  friends.  Tiberius  himself  gave  no  spectacles  or  theatrical 
presentations.^^^ 

Glyco 

Persius  mentions  a  tragic  actor  by  the  name  of  Glyco.  He  be- 
longed to  the  time  of  Nero.  Glyco  was  granted  his  freedom  because 
Nero  was  so  pleased  with  the  tragedian's  skillful  performances. 
This  information  is  given  by  the  Scholiast  on  Persius,  as  is  also  the 


^GaUg.,  33. 

»^^  Vid.,  Valp.,  edd.  Appolinari.  Apelli,  cod.  Trib.  item  Med.  2  a  sec.  manu, 

Torrentms  pro  Appellari. 
^  Suet.,  Aug.,  c.  29. 
«»Lix,  5,  2. 
'^  Dio  Cass.,  loc.  cit. 
'^Suet.,  Tiber.,  47.     Cf.  et.  Inscr.  Lat.,  ed.  Dessau,  5182;  id.,  5183. 


G.  Kenneth  G.  Henry 


373 


the  following  commentary:  that  Glyco  was  the  joint  property  of 
another  tragic  actor  Vergilius  and  a  third  person;  that  Nero  paid 
Vergilius  200,000  sesterces  for  his,  Vergilius's,  share  in  Glyco; 
that,  in  appearance,  Glyco  was  tall,  dark,  with  a  hanging  lower  lip, 
and  generally  unpleasant  to  look  at  when  his  stage  accoutrements 
were  absent :  hie  fuit  staturae  longae,  fusci  corporis,  lahio  inferiori 
dimisso,  antequam  subordnaretur,  deformis.^^^  Persius  ^^^  calls 
Glyco  insultus,  because,  so  says  the  scholiast,  Glyco  was  unable  to 
take  a  joke.  Conington  suggests  that  Persius  in  his  satire  is 
ridiculing  the  people  through  their  favorite  actor  who  was  probably 
too  tragic  in  his  style,  "  supped  full  of  horrors."  ^^* 

Favor 

Favor  was  an  archimimus,  i.  e.  the  leader  of  a  group  of  mimes. 
He  acted  the  part  of  Vespasian  at  the  funeral  games  of  that 
emperor,  reproducing  the  character  and  style  of  Vespasian.  When 
asked  as  to  the  cost  of  the  funeral,  he  answered :  "  Ten  thousand 
sesterces,  but  give  me  100,000  and  then  throw  me  into  the  Tiber, 
if  you  will."  22^ 

Terpnus.    Diodorus 

At  the  same  games  at  which  Apelles  performed  for  Caligula, 
Terpnus  and  Diodorus  are  mentioned  as  citharoedi,  i.  e.  players 
on  the  cithara,  which  they  accompanied  with  the  voice.  Terpnus 
received  200,000  sesterces,  as  did  also  his  fellow  citharoedus 
Diodorus.22®  Terpnus  was  summoned  by  Nero,  when  he  assumed 
the  throne,  to  be  his  music  master.  Nero  sat  by  his  side  day  after 
day  and  till  late  at  night  while  Terpnus  played.  At  the  dedication 
of  the  temple  of  Marcellus  Terpnus  and  Diodorus  received  pay 
next  highest  to  Apelles;  others  receiving  40,000  sesterces,  a  great 
quantity  of  golden  crowns  being  scattered  indiscriminately.^^^ 


^  Scholiast  on  Persius,  Sat.,  5,  9. 
^^  Loc.  cit. 

^*  Coning.,   Nettlesh.  Persius,   loc.   cit. 
actors. 

^'^^^Suet.,  Vesp.,  c.  19;   Friedl.,  n,  442. 
''^Suet.,  Vesp.,  19. 
^  Suet.  Nero,  20. 


Cf.  Martial,  x,   4,   for   similar 


374 


Roman  Actors 


G.  Kenneth  G.  Henry  375 


Mnester 

After  the  death  of  Apelles,  Mnester  became  the  favorite  of 
Caligula.  He  was  a  pantomime,  famous  for  his  beauty  of  body  and 
face.  He  danced  the  tragedy  which  the  tragedian  Neoptolemus  had 
once  acted  at  the  games  at  which  Philip  of  Macedon  was  killed.--* 

Mnester  was  a  forced  lover  of  Messalina,  the  wife  of  Claudius, 
A.  D.  43.  She  withdrew  him  from  the  theatre  and  incurred  the 
displeasure  of  the  Eoman  people  for  that  reason.  The  populace 
were  much  devoted  to  his  dancing,  but  to  spare  him  any  punish- 
ment they  refrained  from  complaining  to  Claudius  of  his  detention 
at  the  imperial  palace  by  Messalina.  "  For,"  says  Dio,  "  he  pleased 
the  people  as  much  by  his  skill  as  he  did  the  Empress  by  his 
beauty."  With  his  abilities  as  a  dancer  he  combined  great  clever- 
ness at  repartee,  so  that  once  when  the  crowd  with  mighty  enthusi- 
asm begged  him  to  perform  a  certain  pantomimic  dance,  he  dared 
to  come  to  the  front  of  the  stage  and  say : 

To  do  this  I  may  not  try: 
Orestes'  bedfellow  am  I.** 

According  to  Dio  Cassius,  Mnester  had  resisted  all  the  advances 
of  Messalina,  and  yielded  only  when  she  secured  from  the  Emperor 
himself  an  injunction  that  he  "should  obey  her  in  all  things." 
Tacitus  tells  of  the  death  of  the  actor."o 


99 


His  tomb 


VlTALIS 

The  mime  Vitalis  attained  to  great  wealth  and  fame, 
boasts  that  he  was  the  most  famous  man  in  the  city : 

Hie  ego  praevalui  tota  notissimus  urbe 

liinc  mihi  larga  domus,  liinc  mihi  census  erat. 

Notissimus  indicates  a  renown,  however,  not  altogether  enviable; 
the  inscription  elsewhere  on  the  same  tomb  attests  to  the  immodesty 
of  his  representations :  "  Anyone  I  represented  shivered  as  though 
at  his  double:  and  many  women  whom  I  imitated  on  the  stage 
blushed  and  were  overcome  with  confusion."  ^^^ 


«»Suet.,  Calig.,  36,  57. 
^  Arm.,  XI,  36. 


"» Dio  Cass.,  60,  22  et  28. 

^  Meyer,  Anthol.  Lat.,  ii,  p.  89. 


Datus 

Datus,  an  actor  of  Atellanae,  was  banished  by  Nero  because  he 
hinted  on  the  stage  at  the  poisoning  and  the  drowning  of  Agrippina. 
Datus  accomplished  the  trick  by  making  the  gestures  of  a  man 
drinking  and  swimming  and  crying  "  Hail,  Father,  Hail, 
Mother."  ^32 

Alityros 

The  mime  Alityros,  a  Jew  influential  at  the  court  of  Nero  and 
a  favorite  of  the  Emperor,  procured  the  introduction  of  Josephus 
to  the  Empress  Poppaea  at  Putioli.  He  obtained  the  release  of 
some  Jewish  captives,  sent  to  the  Emperor  in  chains,  by  interceding 
with  Nero  in  their  behalf.^^^ 

Eurus 

Martial  has  a  single  reference  to  an  actor  by  the  name  of  Julius 
Eufus:  •  ••'■''.  \ 

iSi  Romana  forent  haec  Socratis  era,  fuissent 
lulius   in   Satyris   qualia   Rufus  habet."** 

This  may  mean,  says  Teuffel:  "If  such  a  Sokrates  (Silenus) 
countenance  would  pass  for  a  Eoman,  w^e  might  also  declare  to  be 
such  a  mask  in  which  Julius  Eufus  appears  as  Silenus." 

Tettius 

Tettius  Caballus  also  is  noted  by  Martial.  He  acted  in  Atellanae, 
seemingly,  and  was  a  buffoon,  scurra.  Addressing  his  friend 
Caecilius,  Martial  warns  him  against  posing  as  a  wit,  though  he 
may  think  that  he  can  outdo  Tettius  Caballus : 

Qui  Gabbam  salibus  tuis,  et  ipsum, 
Possis  vincere  Tettium  Caballum.'" 

Gabba 

The  Gabba,  also  a  scurra,  mentioned  here  with  Tettius,  is  again 
referred  to  by  Martial : 


I 


^Suet.,  Nero,  37. 
»**x.  99. 


'"  Joseph.,  vita  3. 
''^i,  42,  16-17. 


376 


Roman  Actors 


Elysio  redeat  si  forte  remissus  ab  agro 

lUe  suo  felix  Caesare  Gabba  vetus, 

Qui  Capitolinuin  pariter  Gabbamque  iocantes 

Audierit,  dicet :  '  Rustice  Gabbe,  tace/  *" 

Gabba  belonged  to  the  time,  then,  of  Augustus.  Some  mss.  read 
Galba,  who  may  have  been  the  A.  Galba  of  whom  Quintilian 
speaks/^^  and  of  whom  the  scholiast  Valla  says:  Appicius  Galba 
sub  Tiberio  scurra  nobilis  fuit.  Juvenal  speaks  of  him  in  the  same 
breath  with  Sarmentus,  the  table-wit  of  Augustus : 

Si  potes  pati  quae  nee  Sarmentus  iniquas 
iCaesaris  ad  mensas  nee  vilis  Gabba  tulisset."* 

Gabba,  says  Plutarch,  used  to  close  his  eyes  when  dining  with 
Maecenas,  so  as  not  to  see  his  patron  ogling  his  wife.  But  when 
a  slave  attempted  to  appropriate  his  wine,  Gabba  said :  "  I  am 
asleep  only  as  far  as  seeing  Maecenas  is  concerned.^^  ^^® 

Sarmentus 

Horace's  Sarmentus  ^*°  is  another  such  buSoon.  These  jesters 
were  actors  borrowed  from  the  stage,  usually  chosen  on  the  grounds 
that  they  possessed  some  physical  deformity.  The  story  of  Sar- 
mentus is  told  by  Kutgersius.^*^  He  was  an  Etrurian  by  birth,  a 
slave  of  M.  Favonius.  He  passed  into  the  hands  of  Maecenas  when 
Favonius  lost  his  property  by  confiscation,  and  was  thereupon  freed 
by  Maecenas.  Upon  being  given  a  position  as  scriba,  he  assumed 
the  rank  of  eques.^^^  Brought  to  trial  for  assuming  a  rank  to  which 
he  was  not  entitled,  he  was  acquitted  by  the  jury,  the  accuser  being 
put  out  of  the  way.  According  to  Kutgersius  he  had  such  a  good 
memory  that  he  never  had  to  write  anything  down,  he  could  carry 
so  much  in  his  head.  In  his  old  age  he  was  reduced  to  poverty,  and 
was  compelled  to  sell  his  position  as  scribe.  His  poverty  was 
brought  about  by  his  extravagance. 

In  Horace's  day  he  seems  to  have  been  free,  but  Messius,  his 
opponent  in  buffoonery,   says  he  still  belongs  to  the  widow  of 


'"X,   CI. 

"■v,  4-5 

^  Sat.,  I,  5,  52  ff. 

*"  Of.  Porphyrio  dd  Hor.,  loc.  cit. 


^  VI,  3,  27,  64,  66. 

"^  Amator.,  16,  22,  p.  760. 

'"  Ven.  Led.,  e.  xvi,  fin. 


G,  Kenneth  G.  Henry 


377 


Favonius.^*^  Juvenal  says  that  a  man  who  wished  to  spend  the  life 
of  a  parasite  at  court  must  endure  more  than  a  Sarmentus  or  a 
Gabba  would  put  up  with.^** 

Messius 

Messius  Cicirrhus,  with  the  disfiguring  scar  on  his  forehead,  is 
said  by  Porphyrio  to  have  belonged  also  to  the  equestrian  rank,  but 
he  seems  rather  to  have  belonged  to  the  neighboring  country 
through  which  Horace  and  his  friends  were  passing.  Porphyrio  is 
probably  extending  the  commentary  of  the  earlier  scholiast.^*^ 
He  doubtless  belonged  to  the  household  of  Cocceius.  If  he  at  all 
resembled  the  unicorn  described  by  Pliny,  he  was  a  very  unsightly 
person  indeed.^*® 

Battus 

Battus,  says  Plutarch,  was  another  such  jester,  borrowed  from 
the  stage.  The  soldiers  of  Trajan  preferred  his  jests  to  more 
refined  exhibitions.^*^ 

POLLIO 

Of  a  citharoedus  by  the  name  of  PoUio,  famous  in  the  time  of 
Juvenal  and  Martial,  there  are  several  notices:  here  de  theatro, 
Pollione  cantante.^^^  "  A  lady  of  the  Claudian  gens  sacrificed  to 
all  the  gods  from  first  to  last  and  asked  whether  Pollio  might  fairly 
hope  to  be  crowned  with  the  oak  leaf  at  the  Capitoline  games.' 
He,  it  seems,  also  taught  his  art : 

tempta, 
Ohrysogonus  quanti  doceat  vel  Polio  quanti 
lautorum  pueros.^ 


??  249 


Paelignus 

Paelignus  under  Claudius,  and  that  Emperor's  favorite  jester, 
was  given  the  governorship  of  Cappadocia : 

Erat  Cappadoeiae  lulius  Paelignus,  ignavia  animi  et  deridiculo  corporis 
iuxta  despiciendus,  sed  Claudio  perquam  familiarig,  cum  privatus  olim  eon- 
versatione   scurrarum   iners   otium   oblectaret.   is   Paelignus   auxiliis    pro- 


'^  Macleane's  Horace  ad  loc.  cit. 

^Sat.,  5,  1-5.     Vid.  Schol.  ad  loc.  cit.;  Plutarch,  Anton.,  59,  2. 

»«Maoleane  ad  loc.  cit.  ^N.  H.,  vm,  21. 

"^  Quaest.  conv.,  vra,  6,  1,  3.  '*"  Mart.,  iv,  61,  9. 

"•Juv.,  VI,  385-387.  »'' Juv.,  vii,  176. 


378 


Roman  Actors 


vincialium  contractis  tamquam  reciperatunis  Armeniain,  dum  socios  magis 
quam  hostis  praedatur,  abscessu  suorum  et  incursantibus  barbaris  praesidi 
egens  ad  Radamistum  venit;  donisque  eius  evictus  ultro  regium  inaigne 
sumere  cohortatur  sumentique  adest  auctor  et  satelles,  quod  ubi  turpi  fama 
divulgatum,  ne  ceteri  quoque  ex  Paeligno  coniectarentur,  Helvidius  Priscua 
legatus  cum  legione  mittitur.*" 

Latinus 

Latinus  was  a  favorite  mime  of  the  Emperor  Domitian.    Martial 
makes  him  partner  on  the  stage  with  the  mima  Thymele : 

Qua  Thymelen  spectaa  derisoremque  Latinum, 
Ilia  fronte  precor  carmina  nostra  legas."' 

Juvenal  also  makes  these  two  colleagiies,^"  representing  Latinus  as 
a  powerful  informer  of  Domitian :  et  a  trepido  Thymele  summissa 
Latino.  Martial,  in  counselling  a  modest  woman  not  to  read  the 
more  immodest  parts  of  a  book,  corrects  himself :  "  Read  on,  for 
it  is  no  worse  than  the  mimes,  and  you  attend  the  performances  of 
Panniculus  and  Latinus/'  ^54  Yet  Martial  speaks  of  the  great  skill 
and  fame  that  were  Latinus's : 

Dulce  decus  scaenae,  ludorum  fama,  Latinus 
Hie  ego  sum,  plausus  delioiaeque  tuae, 

"  who  could  under  my  spell  have  made  even  Cato  and  the  Curii  and 
the  Fabricii  relax ;  but  it  is  only  on  the  stage  that  I  act  vice ;  my 
lord  and  god  reads  the  heart/'  ^'^  Suetonius  says  that  Latinus 
reported  the  news  of  the  day  to  Domitian  at  his  dinner.^^®  Juvenal 
refers  to  Latinus's  playing  the  part  of  a  lover  and  saving  himself 
from  the  jealousy  of  the  husband:  "Who  has  so  often  hidden  in 
the  chest  that  held  Latinus  in  danger  of  his  life."  ^57 


Panniculus 

Panniculus,  another  mimic  actor  of  the  day,  was  the  butt  of 

Latinus  on  the  stage,  receiving  resounding  blows  from  Latinus  to 

provoke  the  merriment  of  the  audience.^^® 

O  quandignus  eras  alapis,  Mariane,  Latini : 
Te  successurum  credo  ego  Pannieulo."' 


»"  Tac,  Ann.,  xn,  49. 
^i,  36. 
''"ix,  xxvm. 
»'  8at.,  VI,  44. 
"•Mart.,  V,  LXi. 


»»l,  4  =  1,  5,  5-6. 

'"ill,  LXXXVI. 

^Domit.,  15. 
"•Mart.,  II,  Lxxn. 


G.  Kenneth  G,  Henry 


379 


Arbuscula 

Many  of  the  mimae  attained  to  great  celebrity.  Arbuscula,  of 
the  time  of  Cicero,  was  such  an  one:  quaeris  nunc  de  Arbuscula. 
valde  placuit.  Ludi  m'agnifici  et  grati.^^^  The  time  when  Cicero 
wrote  this  letter  was  54  B.  C.  She  was  not  therefore  acting  at  the 
time  when  Horace  wrote  his  Satires,  and  it  is  a  legend  that  Horace 
tells  when  he  speaks  of  Arbuscula  saying  that  she  cared  not  for  the 
hisses  of  the  rest  of  her  audience  if  only  the  front  seats  applauded 
her.2«^ 

DiONYSIA 

Dionysia  also  belonged  to  the  days  of  Cicero.  She  amassed  great 
wealth  from  her  profession :  "  Koscius  could  easily  have  earned 
300,000  sesterces  if  Dionysia  can  earn  200,000."  ^^2 

Cytheris 

Cytheris,  too,  belongs  to  the  Ciceronian  period.  Her  assumed 
name  when  she  accompanied  M.  Antonius,  was  Volumnia:  non 
noto  illo  et  mimico  nomine  sed  Volumniam.^^^  This  name  of 
Volumnia  she  received  from  the  senator  P.  Volumnius,  of  whom 
she  was  a  freedwoman.^^*  Plutarch  recognizes  Cytheris  and 
Volumnia  as  the  same.^^^  Her  profession  of  courtesan  outshone 
that  of  actress. 

Origo 

Origo  is  mentioned  by  Horace  as  a  mima : 

Ut  quodam  Marsaeus,  amator  Originis  ille, 

Qui  patrium  mimae  donat  fundumque,  laremque."* 

Her  date  is  not  evident. 


*»Cic.,  ad  Att.,  iv,  15,  6. 

^8at.,  1,  X,  77. 

»'Oic.,  Pro.  Rose,  vin. 

*^Cic.,Phil.,  II,  24. 

""  Servius,  Eclog.,  x. 

>"  Vid.,  Cic.  ad  Att.,  x,  10,  5;  ad  Fam.,  ix,  26,  3. 

*"  8at.,  I,  2,  55. 


380 


Roman  Actors 


Thymele 

The  mima  Thymele  was  the  co-actor  with  the  mimus  Latinus.^*^'' 
Again,  she  is  the  colleague  of  the  mimus  Corinthus:  zelotypus 
Thymeles,  stupidi  collega  Corinthi.^^^  Here  a  noble  plays  the  part 
of  her  jealous  husband.  Bathyllos,  however,  says  Juvenal,  could, 
in  his  impersonations  of  women,  outshame  Thymele ;  when  he  acted 
she  was  but  a  novice,  a  mere  simple  country  girl  in  comparison 
with  his  characters :  Thymele  tunc  rustica  discit,^^^ 

SOPHE 

The  corpus  gives  the  name  of  Sophe  Theorohathylliarta  arhitrix 
emholiarum  (interludes)  .^^'^  Sophe,  as  the  inscription  tells,  was  a 
pupil  of  the  pantomimes  Bathyllos  and  Theoros;  and  should  there- 
fore be  called  a  pantomima, 

Hermione 

Claudia  Hermione  was  an  archimima:  dormL  Claudiae  Her- 
mionae  archimimae  sui  temporis  primae,  Jieredis,^'^^ 


EUCHARIS 

An  epitaph  of  a  girl  by  the  name  of  Eucharis,  probably  of  the 
time  of  Nero,^^^  makes  her  say  that  she  was  the  first  woman  to 
represent  Greek  parts  on  the  stage : 

Eucharis  Liciniae  1., 

docta  erodita  omnes  artes  virgo,  vixit  an.  xnn. 


Heic  viridis  aetas  cum  floreret  artibus 
crescente  et  aevo  gloriam  conscenderet, 
properavit  hora  tristis  fatalis  mea 
et  degeneravdt  ultra  veitae  spiritum. 
Docta  erodita  paene  Musarum  manu, 
quae  mode  nobilium  ludos  decoravi  charo 
et  Graeca  in  Scena  prima  populo  apparui. 


3TS 


Juv.,  in,  viii,  197. 


**' Juv.,  1,  36;  Mart.,  i,  iv,  5-C. 

»»\%  66. 

^""C.  I.  L.,  6,  10128  =  7wsc.  Lat.y  ed.  Dess.,  5263. 

*"  Insc.  Lat.,  ed.  Dess.,  5211  =  C.  I.  L.,  6,  10106. 

="'  Furneaux,  Tac.  Ann.,  xiv,  15. 

""^mc.  Lat.,  ed.  Dessau,  5213  =  C.  /.  L.,  6,  10096. 


G,  Kenneth  G.  Henry 


381 


Fabia 

FahiaM.  et  C.  lib.  Arete  archimima  temporis  sui  prima  diurnaj^"^^ 
gives  the  name  of  another  archimima.  Bassila  appears  in  another 
inscription.^^' 

SOPHRON- 

The  comedian  Sophron  acted,  it  seems,  in  the  provinces.  Com- 
plaint was  made  to  Epictetus  by  an  imperial  procurator  that  the 
opponents  of  Sophron  had  insulted  him  in  the  theatre.  Epictetus 
remarks  that  the  treatment  given  the  procurator  was,  however,  well 
deserved,  for  he  had  taken  Sophron's  side  altogether  too  vehe- 
mently. He  and  his  slaves  had  risen  from  their  seats  and  shouted 
the  praises  of  Sophron.  "  How,  then,^'  says  Epictetus,  "  could  he 
complain  if  they  treated  him  as  one  of  the  mob  if  he  acted  like  the 
mob  ? ''  2T6 

Theocritus 

The  dancer  and  actor  Theocritus  was  made  commander  of  the 
Armenian  army,  according  to  Dio  Cassius.^"  He  was  a  slave  of 
the  chamberlain  of  Commodus,  Saoterus,  before  raised  to  his  mili- 
tary command  by  Caracalla.^^® 

Genesius 

Genesius,  as  a  mime,  played  in  the  time  of  Diocletian.  He,  it  i3 
said,  ridiculed  Christian  baptism.     He  was  afterward  martyred.^^® 

Geminus 

The  comedian  Geminus  was  one  of  the  early  teachers  of  Marcus 
Aurelius.^®^ 

''*In8C.  Lat,  ed.  Dessau,  5212  =  0.  /.  L.,  6,  10,  107. 

"^C.  I.  G.,  6,  10,  106.  See  the  inscriptions  for  other  names  of  mimae 
scattered  here  and  there.  The  Anecdota  of  Procopius  give  the  full  details 
of  the  life  of  Theodora,  the  wife  of  Justinian,  and  Empress  of  Byzantium, 
who  started  her  public  career  as  a  mima  of  the  stage. 

"'  Diss.,  m,  4. 

"'  Dio  Cass.,  Lxxvii,  21. 

'"Dio  Cass.,  LXXVII,  21;  cf.  Insc.  Lat.,  ed.  Dessau,  5195. 

"»Friedl.,  2,  p."  443,  n.  7;  Martyr.  8.  Genesii  a  286  p.  C.  Ruinart  Acta 
martyrum,  p.  236. 

*^M.  Antonin.,  c.  2. 


382 


Roman  Actors 


Many  of  the  professional  singers  whose  names  have  come  down 
to  us,  were  citharoedi  of  the  Eoman  stage.    Menecrates  of  the  court 
of  Nero  was  generously  rewarded  by  the  Emperor:    Menecraten 
citharoedum    et   Spiculum    myrmillonem   triumphalium    virorum 
patrimoniis  aedihus  donavit.^^^    Mesomedes,  a  favorite  at  the  court 
of  Hadrian  and  a  freedman  of  Hadrian,  received  a  large  salary.^®^ 
Anaxenor,  a  citharoedus,  was  honored  by  Mark  Antony  with  the 
collectorship  of  the  taxes  of  four  cities  and  with  the  attendance  of 
a  military  escort.    His  native  town  of  Magnesia  bestowed  on  him 
a  priesthood  and  erected  to  him  a  public  monument.^®^    These  facts 
illustrate  more  how  the  public  courted  stage  artists  than  furnish 
any  just  estimate  of  the  character  of  the  artists'  work.    The  pan- 
tomime Mnester  held  the  favor  and  love  of  the  greatest  beauty  of 
Rome,  the  elder  Poppaea.^^*     Galen  tells  how  the  wife  of  Justus 
had  her  case  of  insomnia  diagnosed :  the  mention  of  Pylades'  name 
quickened  her  pulse.-^^     The  actor  of  togatae,  Stephanio,  was,  in 
the  time  of  Augustus,  waited  on  by  a  married  woman  in  the  guise 
of  a  page.^^®    The  actor  and  writer  of  mimes,  MaruUus,  ridiculed 
on   the   stage   with  great  freedom   Marcus   Aurelius   and   Lucius 
Verus.^^^     Caracalla  made  the  dancer  Theocritus  commander  of  an 
army  in  Armenia.^^®     Tertullian  inquires  "  whether  it  is  the  buf- 
foons  (mimes)  Lentulus  and  Hostilius  or  your  gods  whose  jokes 
and  tricks  you  laugh  at;  such  subjects  as  an  adulterous  Anubis,  a 
masculine  moon,  Diana  scourged,  the  will  of  the  deceased  Jupiter 
read  aloud,  and  three  starving  Herculeses  held  up  to  ridicule/'  ^^^ 
The  art  of  the  actor  had  long  since  sunk  to  an  extreme  refinement 
of  the  sensuous  and  seductive.    The  healthy  criticism  of  the  early 
Republic  against  which  Ambivius  had  to  struggle,  the  lofty  per- 
fection of  dramatic  art  attained  by  Roscius,  are  no  longer  in  evi- 
dence. 

The  University  of  North  Carolina. 


»*Suet.,  Nero,  30;  Yid.  Petron.,  Sat.,  c.  73:  Menecratis  cantica. 

"s^Euseb.,  Chron.  ad.  a.  146  p.  C;  Suid.,  Vita  Anton.,  7. 

^  Strabo,  xiv,  41,  p.  648  C. 

«*Tac.,  Ann.,  xi,  4,  36;  xm,  45,  1-2. 

285  De  prognos.  ad.  Epig.,  p.  457.    K.,  xiv,  631. 

^  Suet.,  Aug.,  45,  fin. 

»'  Galen :  vid.  Fried.,  Sitten.,  B.  2,  p.  442,  n.  7. 

^  Dio  Cass.,  Lxxvii,  21. 

»»Tertull.,  Apol,  15,  trans.  Mayor-Souter. 


An  Acknowledgment 


383 


AN  ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

Professor  Fairchild  submits  the  following  note  bearing  upon  hii 
recent  article,  Robert  Bloom  field: 

Mention  of  a  scholarly  master's  thesis  by  Mr.  E.  A.  White,  now 
of  Northwestern  University,  written  on  my  suggestion  and  under 
my  direction,  and  covering  particularly  the  biographical  and  his- 
torical background  of  Bloomfield,  was  omitted  by  an  unfortunate 
oversight  on  my  part  from  my  article.  Due  credit  for  the  work 
done  and  for  help  derived  should  be  given  Mr.  White. 


